The second edition of the Middle East International Film Festival hosted by the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi kicked off Friday with a glamorous red-carpet parade.
Hollywood stars Antonio Banderas and his wife Melanie Griffith, as well as Meg Ryan and Adrien Brody, and director Rian Johnson, joined Arab cinema stars, including Egyptians Youssra and Hussein Fahmi, for the opening ceremony of the 10-day festival in the luxurious Emirates Palace hotel.
The show began with Johnson s film The Brothers Bloom, which features Oscar-winner Brody along with Rachel Weisz.
Some 70 movies including feature and short films and documentaries will compete for the Black Pearl Awards with prizes totaling more than one million dollars, which according to organizers is the world s largest purse for film awards.
Legendary Hollywood actress Jane Fonda will be honored during the festival, while Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon will take part in a panel discussing socially conscious cinema.
Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest of seven emirates forming the United Arab Emirates, has been on an all-out drive to become a regional cultural capital, using its petrodollars to attract such cultural icons as France s Sorbonne university and Louvre Museum, as well as the Guggenheim museum.
A branch of the Sorbonne opened in Abu Dhabi in 2006 and Louvre and Guggenheim satellites are due to be inaugurated by 2012. -AFP
