NIZWA: The Al Dakhiliyah International Film Festival was inaugurated in the Wilayat of Nizwa on Sunday under the auspices of Mohammed bin Said al Balushi, Ministry of Information Under-Secretary for Radio and Television.
Apart from the Sultanate of Oman Sixteen countries are participating in the festival including Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco, the United Kingdom, Iran, Tunisia, Syria, Bahrain, Belgium, and France.
Bahraini director Bassam al Thawadi will participate in a symposium entitled "The Importance of the Film Industry, Centers and Festivals in the Economic Mobility," along with Algerian director Dalil Belkhodir, Emirati director Nawaf al Janahi, and Omani director Haitham Suleiman.
The festival management has allocated eight awards, which are the Best Omani Narrative Film, Best Omani Documentary Film, Best International Documentary Film, Documentary Jury Award, Award for Best International Feature Film, Award for Second Best International Feature Film, Award for Third Best International Feature Film and the Jury Prize for Feature Film.
The festival has two juries; one for feature films and animation films comprising Dr Salim al Maamari from the Sultanate of Oman; Dr Noor Al Deen Hashemi from Syria; Haitham bin Suleiman from the Sultanate of Oman; Dr Mouniah Hojeij from Tunisia; Ammar al Ibrahim from the Sultanate of Oman; and Abdulaziz al Habsi from the Sultanate of Oman.
The second jury is dedicated to documentaries, consisting of Dr Rashid al Yafei from the Sultanate of Oman; Jalal Al Deen from Iran; Mohammad al Farsi, Walid al Kharousi, and Hussein al Balushi from the Sultanate of Oman; and Hussein al Thabeti from Tunisia.
During the opening ceremony Mohammed al Kindi, Director of Nizwa film festival, said: “The film industry, in all its forms, is one of the most important pillars of the world economy, regardless of whether the country produces films or not. The industry is always on the lookout for new and exciting locations. So when a country like Oman is blessed with a distinctive landscape of mountains, plains, valleys, deserts and architectural monuments such as castles and forts, it is not surprising that it should become a magnet for both tourism and the film industry in the Arabian Gulf Peninsula and wider world. The Nizwa International Film Festival has established cinema as a significant form of education both locally and internationally. However, a film industry which depends on societal acceptance can only prosper if it builds partnerships of society, public and private institutions to significantly resolve potentially controversial issues.”
Al Kindi said: “Indeed, a genuine partnership between society and government or private institutions has been established to resolve many thorny issues. In this sense, there is an urgent call for the engagement of active institutions in the visual arts industry to enable the local film industry to intensify work on the production of local films to give people a voice and feature on the film global scene. Government institutions should also give support to the film industry to generate revenue and income for writers, actors, producers, photographers, directors, visual effects workers, soundtrack technicians and other specialists in the production of such highly creative art.”
“With the first cinema festival of its kind in Nizwa that celebrates creativity, aspirations and achievements, we hope to establish the foundation of film culture in Oman and launch more festivals in the future and help generate income, which in turn will be an investment in the future of cinema and the creation of film companies,” Al Kindi said.
The opening ceremony also witnessed the honouring of several distinguished writers and technicians.
In addition, several workshops will be organised during the festival including one on film direction hosted by director Nawaf al Janahi from the UAE.
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