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Dubai tries to keep up glitz at film fest
The festival was launched to great fanfare in 2004, when Dubai -- a member of the United Arab Emirates federation -- was a boomtown on a mission to become a Singapore-style global trade and tourism center where money was easy and living was fast.
But the tone was more downbeat on Wednesday night. Gulf Arab, Egyptian and a few Indian actors walked down a red carpet graced in previous years by stars such as George Clooney and Goldie Hawn as Dubai -- promoted as the “vision” of its ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum -- sought Hollywood’s eye.
The stars who turned up, including Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan who received a lifetime achievement award, were in defensive mode about the city of 1.7 million Asians, Arabs and Europeans that has reveled in excess and opulence.
“This festival is something Dubai should be proud of. Everything that’s being said about Dubai is not true. We are living in comfort,” Emirati actress Hala al-Khatib told reporters.
“It has such energy, this city. I very much enjoy the ‘yes we can’ attitude in Dubai,” said British actress Natalie Dormer, who stars in “City of Life,” a drama in English and Hindi about life in Dubai that premieres this week.
The organizers -- who declined to say how much money they were spending this year -- said the festival’s aim remained building bridges between cultures of the world.
“We have 200 nationalities here and Dubai goes on with its people and its residents,” said artistic director Masoud Amralla Al Ali. “This is not a city of ghosts, everyone is here. Dubai has so much movement it’s tiring, it’s not a deserted city.”
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