For once, BeNeLux Business Council would like to inform its members about a cultural event: the Cinema Festival which is happening in Manarat al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi from June 6 to June 12, 2022.

The 4th edition of CineMAS Film Festival features a wide range of films and themes spanning over 8 days including post screening discussions with the directors and speakers from the film community.

Three films supported by the Netherlands Film or a Belgium Director or even The Royal Belgian Film Archive will be shown so don't miss the opportunity!

For more  information: www.cinemas2022.com

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Monday, June 6
Conversation with Director Omar El Zohairy at 6pm 
Film screening at 7pm

Feathers

Director: Omar Al Zohairy
2021, 1h 52 min, Egypt/France/Netherlands/Greece
Arabic (English subtitles), PG-15

When a magic trick goes awry at a children’s birthday party, the authoritative father of the family turns into a chicken. An avalanche of coincidental absurdities befalls everyone; the mother, whose mundane life was dedicated to her husband and children, is now urged to come to the fore and take care of her family. While moving heaven and earth to bring her husband back and secure their survival, she goes through a total transformation. 

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Thursday, June 9
Film screening at 7pm

Mars, Oman

Director: Vanessa Del Campo
2019, 20 min, Belgium
Arabic, English (English subtitles), Creative Short Documentary, PG-13

An old Bedouin riding his camel can’t believe his eyes: a woman dressed in a big, compact armour and a bizarre helmet is studying an insignificant rock. Astronauts in the desert of Oman... Or is it Mars? Bedouins, spaceships, desertships, two young Omani girls passionate about space and a lost director reflecting about life in this Universe and the relation between nomadism, exploration, colonialism and freedom.

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Sunday, June 12
Film screening at 3pm

BEIRUT, THE ENCOUNTER
(1982)

Director: Borhane Alaouié
1982, 1h 37 min, Lebanon/Tunisia/Belgium
Arabic (English subtitles),  PG-15

Beirut, 1977. Zeina (Nadine Acoury) is about to leave the country, just like many Lebanese are doing again today. Haydar (Haitham El Amine) hasn’t been in the city for very long; he had to leave his village because of the civil war. The two haven’t seen each other in years, although a sense of longing has endured.

The camera follows the two of them for around 24 hours, past checkpoints and ruins, stuck in traffic, waiting in vain in a café. Suspense arises from the question of whether they will manage to see each other one last time; the film’s allure is derived from the tender, melancholy atmosphere inherent to the images of the damaged city and the characters’ soft voices.

CineMAS 2022 is presenting the recently restored version by the Royal Belgian Film Archive, first screened in the Forum section of Berlinale 2022, 40 years after the film screened in Competition at Berlinale 1982.