The Abu Dhabi Film Festival is pleased to announce that the Iraqi director Mohamed Al-Daradji is set to receive Variety’s coveted Middle East Filmmaker of the Year Award at the Festival on Tuesday, October 19. Al-Daradji’s work caught the attention of the Festival long before his films found acclaim in the wider film world, making it the perfect setting for the occasion. Variety described Al-Daradji as “the hardest working filmmaker in the region” and praised his riveting portrayals of life in post-Saddam Iraq, a subject he has explored in both documentary and narrative work.

Al-Daradji grew up in Baghdad, where he studied theater directing until he fled to the Netherlands in 1995. He worked as a cameraman before studying cinematography in the UK, quickly making a name for himself with a number of short films and documentaries. In 2005, Al-Daradji impressed critics with his debut feature Ahlaam, a shocking portrayal of life in wartime Baghdad, which was selected by dozens of film festivals around the world. Shot on location in 2003, the film’s production was marred by frequent power cuts, meager provisions and security concerns. During the shoot, Al-Daradji and his crew suffered attacks by insurgents and spent days held by the U.S. army. Al-Daradji’s second feature film was the documentary War, Love, God and Madness (2008), which was shot during the making of Ahlaam.

It was Al-Daradji’s next feature, Son of Babylon (2009), which catapulted him onto the world stage. After receiving post-production support from the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and celebrating its world premiere here last year, the film was picked up by numerous international festivals and has since been chosen as Iraq’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award®. Also shot on location in Iraq, the film tells the touching story of a Kurdish grandmother traveling across Iraq with her grandson to find her son - the boy’s father - who went missing as a soldier during the first Gulf war.

This year, Al-Daradji comes to Abu Dhabi not just to receive the Variety award, but also to present his current project, In My Mother’s Arms. The film received a development grant from the Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s newly launched SANAD film fund and is shown as a work-in-progress on Tuesday, October 19 (see screening details below).

"Al-Daradji’s films, both documentary and narrative, are of an eye-opening quality that cuts right through people’s preconceptions to show the world from a different perspective. To me, that is one of the hallmarks of truly great filmmaking. I’ve long been following Al-Daradji’s development as a filmmaker and we are proud and happy that the work of this immensely talented, socially engaged director is now being honored by what many consider one of the film world’s foremost opinion-leaders,” said Peter Scarlet, Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

“It was after showing Son of Babylon at the Festival in Abu Dhabi last year that it got picked up by Sundance. Abu Dhabi supported the film since it was just a glint in my eye, and I have received funding from SANAD for both my new projects, which is invaluable to a filmmaker like me working in extremely adverse circumstances,” said Al-Daradji.

"When Variety created this award three years ago, we were pleased that Middle Eastern filmmakers were being welcomed to the international film community in this way. Of course, it is always extremely gratifying to see the talents we feature at the Festival going on to international acclaim and we look forward to working with both Al-Daradji and Variety for a long time to come,” said Eissa Saif Rashed Al Mazrouei, the Festival’s Project Director.

“We wanted to honor Mohamed Al-Daradji this year, not because he is a great Middle Eastern filmmaker, but because he is simply a great filmmaker, who happens to be from this region,” said Tim Gray, the Editor of Variety. “By creating this award, we wanted to tell people they need to pay attention to this region. Just a couple of years ago lots of people in Hollywood didn’t even know where Abu Dhabi is, but the Festival, the Circle Conference and initiatives like this award have helped to get filmmaking from this region recognized all over the world.”

Last year, Variety’s Middle East Filmmaker of the Year Award went to the celebrated director Elia Suleiman, who heads the jury of the New Horizons / Afaq Jadida Competition this year and will present the award to Al-Daradji at a private function in Etoiles at the Emirates Palace.

Screening Information:

In My Mother’s Arms (work-in-progress), by Mohamed Al-Daradji
Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 6:45 p.m., CineStar 2, Marina Mall
 

We accept Guest Posts