Manarat Al Saadiyat’s CineMAS set to return as a virtual film festival this year
CineMAS, the alternative film festival launched by Manarat Al Saadiyat last year, is coming back in a virtual format, from July 15 to August 5, the cultural centre has announced.
The arts centre, on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, will host the Middle Eastern premiere of four documentaries: Martin
Margiela: In His Own Words by German director Reiner Holzemer; El Father Plays Himself by American-Italian director Mo Scarpelli; Cunningham by Russian director Alla Kovgan; and One More Jump by Italian director Emanuele Gerosa.
Last year, the festival opened with a screening of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, co-produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi, and included panel discussions and workshops. This time around, screenings will be followed by online discussions, including talks with directors Scarpelli and Gerosa.
Here is a closer look at each of the four films.
‘Martin Margiela: In His Own Words’
This documentary is an intimate profile of revolutionary Belgian fashion designer Martin Margiela. With a radical style unlike anyone else in the industry, Margiela rose from the role of assistant to designer Jean Paul Gaultier to creative director at fashion house Hermes, before launching his own brand. In this film, Margiela, who has led a private life away from the public eye, gives viewers a glimpse into his vision and career. Wednesday, July 15, 7.30pm
‘Cunningham’
It tracks the life of the late Merce Cunningham, who started out as a struggling dancer in New York, but became one of the most visionary choreographers of his generation. Using 3D technology, the film takes viewers on a journey through his work and includes previously unseen archival material. Wednesday, July 22, 7.30pm
‘One More Jump’
This film brings the frustration of life under siege in the Gaza
Strip into focus, told through the prism of parkour. Jehad and Abdallah, founders of the Gaza Parkour Team, make separate life choices with very different outcomes, but the question of real freedom persists. Wednesday, July 29, 7.30pm
‘El Father Plays Himself’
This film follows a young director who returns to
Venezuela to make a feature film about his father’s life in the Amazon, in which his parent plays himself. The project leads to confrontation. Wednesday, August 5, 7.30pm CineMAS runs from Wednesday, July 15, to Wednesday, August 5. More information available at www.cine-mas.me