- What? Middle East International Film Festival 2008 (MEIFF 2008). The first MEIFF event was in 2007 with 80 films from 30 different countries.
- Where? Emirates Palace Hotel & Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi in 2007, same for 2008?
- When? 10-19 October 2008 (4 days longer than in 2007)
- How much? 10 dhs for normal screenings (tickets were free in 2007), 200 dhs for opening and closing night gala ceremonies.
- Tickets from where? MEIFF website, Emirates Palace Box Office, the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi, CineStar cinemas at Abu Dhabi Marina Mall, Grand Cinemas at Abu Dhabi Mall.
- Organisers? ADACH (Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage)
- Main Sponsors?
- Contact?
- Website? www.meiff.com
- MEIFF director is Nashwa Al Ruwaini.
- MEIFF Vice-Chairman is Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei (he is also Director General of ADACH).
- MEIFF box office (at Emirates Palace Hotel) will be open 1 hour before first film screening until 30 mins after last screening.
- Project Coordinator is Eissa Al Mazrouei.
- International stars attending MEIFF 2008 include Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet, Ben Kingsley, Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith, Adrien Brody, Eva Green, Joseph Fiennes (updated 19 October 2008).
- Arab stars attending MEIFF 2008 include Syrian actress Sulaf Fawakherji from 'Haseeba', Egyptian actresses Elham Shaheen, Ghada Abdel Razaq and Hala Sadqi and actors Fathi Abdel Wahab and Ezzat Abu Ouf from 'Khalta Fawziya', Lebanese actress Serene Abdel Noor and Egyptian actor Khaled Al Nabawi from 'Smoke without Fire', Palestinian stars Mohammed Bakri and Areen Omari from 'Laila's Birthday', Egyptian actors Basma and Ahmed Al Fishawi and Asser Yassin from 'Zay Al Naharda.'
- The Black Pearl Awards offers total prize money of more than $1 million (AED 3.67 million) in the categories of animation, documentaries, fiction, short films, and student films.
International Competition for Advertisements section with 3 categories (top prize of $25,000 in each): 'Best Essential Objects', 'Best Luxurious Objects' and 'Best Television, Cinema and Digital Techniques'. - Photography exhibition of the life of the late Egyptian Director Youssef Chahine (passed away 27 July 2008). Exhibition will be in the Emirates Palace hotel, opening ceremony at 8pm on Saturday 11 October 2008. Attendees will include Egyptian actresses Yusra and Leila Alawi and Lubluba, Egyptian actor Saif Abdelrahman, film director Khaled Youssef, screenwriter Nasser Abdel Rahman, Chahine's nephew and manager of his production company, Gabi Khoury, and his niece, producer and director Marian Khoury.
MEIFF 2008 Programs include:
MEIFF 2008 Special Presentations
- Opening Night Gala: The Brothers Bloom (USA), director Rian Johnson. Starring Mark Ruffalo, Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, Maximilian Schell and Rinko Kikuchi. Brothers Stephen and Bloom are orphans who bonded in childhood and were mentored into becoming the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. They've decided to take one last job before dissolving their partnership-showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a thrilling adventure that takes them around the world.
- Closing Night Film: Body of Lies (USA), director Ridley Scott. Starring, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong and Golshifteh Farahani. A CIA operative, Roger Ferris, is sent to Jordan to track a high-ranking terrorist. The spy is aided by the head of Jordan's covert operations in an uneasy alliance that leads to cultural and moral clashes between the men.
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona (USA/Spain), director Woody Allen. Starring, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Patricia Clarkson, Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. Vicky and Cristina visits Barcelona for the summer and becomes enamored with the artist Juan Antonio who they meet at an art exhibition and gets entwined with him and his beautiful but insane ex-wife. When they all became amorously entangled, the results can only be described as chaotic.
- Miracle at St. Anna (USA/Italy), director Spike Lee. Starring Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, John Turturro and Kerry Washington. Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four black American soldiers who are members of the US Army as part of the all-black 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II. They experience the tragedy and triumph of war as they find themselves trapped behind enemy lines and separated from their unit after one of them risks his life to save an Italian boy.
- The Lucky Ones (USA), director Neil Burger. Starring Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Peña. After suffering an injury during a routine patrol, hardened sergeant TK Poole is granted a one-month leave to visit his fiancé. But when an unexpected blackout cancels all flights out of New York, TK agrees to share a ride to Pittsburgh with two other stranded servicemen: Cheever and Colee and what begins as a short trip unexpectedly evolves into a longer journey.
- Easy Virtue (UK), director Stephan Elliott. Starring, Jessica Biel, Kristen Scott Thomas, Colin Firth and Ben Barnes. Larita, a Jazz Age race-car driver impulsively marries young Englishman John Whittaker in Monte Carlo and travels to England to meet his privileged and batty family who naturally, hate her. John's mother and sisters try their best to sabotage the newlyweds while his father, develops a deep bond with the bride founded on their mutual appreciation for motorbikes and flouting social etiquette.
- Igor (USA/France), directed by Anthony Leondis. Animated film with the voices of John Cusack, John Cleese, Steve Buscemi, Sean Hayes and Eddie Izzard. In a world filled with mad scientists and evil inventions, one talented evil scientist's hunch-backed lab assistant, Igor, has big dreams of becoming a mad scientist himself and winning the annual Evil Science Fair.
International Competition Feature Film and Documentary
- Premiere: Bid you Farewell (Egypt), director Mohammed Kamel El Kaliouby
- Beirut Open City (Lebanon), director Samir Habashi
- Fawzia: A Special Blend (Egypt), director Magdi Ahmed Ali
- Haseeba (Syria), director Remon Butros
- Henna (UAE), director Saleh Karama
- Laila's Birthday (Palestine) by Rashid Masharawi. About a father who tries to make his daughter's birthday memorable in the chaos of Palestine. The Middle East premiere of the film is at MEIFF 2008.
- On a Day Like Today (Egypt), director Amr Salama
- Time of Comrades (Morocco), director Mohammed Alsharif Al Taribeq
Arab Women Directors
- The Kite (Tiyara men warak), director the late Randa Chahal Sabbag, will be the opening film of the program, it won the Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 2003.
- Always Look them in the Eyes (Dayman Itala'i Bi'eyounhom), director Azza El-Hassan, highlights the ways in which Palestinians have communicated with the Israelis
- Beggars and Gentlemen (Chahatoun wa Noubala) (1991) by Asmaa El Bakri
- Behind the Mirror (Wara Al Miraat) by Nadia Cherabi
- Khmissa by Molka Mahdaoui
- Marock by Laïla Marrakchi
- My Son (Ya Waladi!) by Lina Ghaibeh, an animated short film about the pain of a mother waiting for the return of her son who disappeared during the war
- Our Heedless Wars (Horoubona Al-Ta'isha) by the late Randa Chahal Sabbag
- Pret A Porter Imm Ali by Dima El-Horr
- The Silence of the Palace (Samt El Koussour) by Moufida Tlatli
- Thread of Life (Khait Al-Hayat) by Razam Hijazi
Retrospective on Palestine - 60 Years Since the Division of Palestine (16 films)
- Letters from Palestine (2003), made by 11 directors: Franco Angeli, Giuliana Berlinguer, Maurizio Carrassi, Giuliana Gamba, Roberto Giannarelli, Wilma Labate, Francesco Ranieri Martinotti, Francesco Maselli, Mario Monicelli, Ettore Scola and Fulvio Wetzl. The documentary features ten stories depicting images of civilian life endured by Palestinian people in Jerusalem, Gaza and Ramallah.
- An Oppressed People is Always Right (1975), directed by Nils Vest. About Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
- Everyday by Marco S. Puccioni
- Gaza Ghetto - Portrait of a Palestinian Family by Pea Holmquist
- Genet in Chatila by Richrad Dindo
- I Came to Palestine by Robert Krieg
- Intifada - Road to Freedom by Sarah Montgomery. Tells the story of the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
- Land of the Fathers Part 1 (The Land of Fathers) - first part of a trilogy produced between 1974 and 1983 by director George Sluizer. The trilogy tells the story of supporters of Palestinian guerrillas, and centers on two families driven from their homeland.
- Land of the Fathers Part 2 - A Reason To Go
- Land of the Fathers Part 3 - Adios Beirut
- On Our Land and Voices from Gaza by Antonia Caccia
- Palestine in Flames by Monika Maurer
- Shoot and Cry by Helen Klodawsky
- Young Freud in Gaza by Peà Holmquist and Suzanne Khardalian
Environmental Films (7 films) - launched in conjunction with the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi, and Wildscreen in the UK
- The Oryx: Freed Spirit of the Desert (UAE), director Bader Ben Hirsi. About the Arabian Oryx and breeding program established 35 years ago by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
- Flow: For the Love of Water (USA), director Irena Salina. About the precarious condition of the world's water supply.
- Saving Luna (Canada), director Suzanne Chisholm. About Luna, a young Orca whale, which turns up in Nootka Sound near Vancouver, British Columbia and becomes part of the community.
- White Falcon, White Wolf (UK), producer BBC / Fergus Beeley. About wolves and falcons trying to raise their families on the remote Ellesmere Island in Canada.
Festival of Festivals - a selection of award winning or nominated films from film festivals around the world, including
- Two-Legged Horse (Iran), director by Samira Makhmalbaf. About a wealthy boy in Afghanistan who hires a poor child to carry him around like a horse.
- The Smell of Apples(Iraq - Germany 2007), director Richie Mehta. About a group of people in Iraqi Kurdistan suffering from poison gas attack 20 years ago.
- Standard Operating Procedure (USA), director Errol Morris. Controversial film about the Abu Ghraib prison photographs.
- Wild Field (Russia), director Dikoye Polye. About a young Russian doctor living in an isolated village.