Variety today presented Palestinian director Elia Suleiman the Middle East Filmmaker of the Year Award at the 2009 Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF). His latest film The Time That Remains will be screened this evening.

Suleiman made his film debut in 1996 with Chronicle of a Disappearance, which won the 1996 Venice Film Festival prize for Best First Film. In 2002 Suleiman won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his feature film Divine Intervention, described as a modern tragic comedy of life under occupation in Palestine. This year Suleiman has returned with the film The Time That Remains based on his father’s diaries and Suleiman’s own memories of life as an Israeli Arab from 1948 to the present day. The film received strong critical acclaim in its world premiere at Cannes in May.

MEIFF Executive Director Peter Scarlet commented: "Variety has named Elia Suleiman as Middle East Filmmaker of the Year? They could have dropped the ’Middle East’ part. Has there been a film from anywhere else in the world this year that was better than The Time That Remains?

The Time That Remains is one of 18 films at MEIFF competing for the Black Pearl Award in the Narrative Feature Competition. These films are chosen for their remarkable vision and the freshness of their storytelling.

A second showing of The Time That Remains will take place at Cinestar 2 on Friday, October 16th at 3:45 pm.
The Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) was established in 2007 by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), which presents MEIFF each October in Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E capital. MEIFF seeks to affirm the key place Abu Dhabi holds as an emerging cultural center and to foster the growth of its local film community. It celebrates cinema in all its forms by creating a vibrant forum for storytellers from the Middle East and around the world.

The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) is the institution in charge of conserving and promoting the heritage and culture of Abu Dhabi. Established in October 2005 as an authority of the Government of Abu Dhabi, it is administered by a board of directors chaired by H. E. Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.

With the generous support of our sponsors Abu Dhabi Media Company, Etihad Airways, E-vision, Synaxis Media, Royal Jet, Robert Wan, Zee TV and Zee Aflam, Variety, Cafe Moka, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Sauce, Jo Malone, Chocolat, Red Door Productions, The Village Club and Marina Mall.

For more information please visit the festival website: www.meiff.com or contact: press@meiff.com />  

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