One of the world’s more unusual film festivals opens March 15 in Kuwait, before moving on to Bahrain and Qatar. But then moving around is what The Green Caravan Film Festival (GCFF) is all about.Founded by environmental company Equilibrium in 2009, GCFF presents socially conscious films in various Middle Eastern cities including Dubai, and has also been held in London. For 2016, the festival is being held in three cities during its tour, with an aim to unite audiences, filmmakers, NGOs and supporters to increase collaborations and develop the local film industry in more environmental ways.This year the lead film is director Mohammed Rashed Buali’s “The Sleeping Tree,” the story of a Bahraini family struggling with their cultural environment. The feature film analyses a couple’s multiple identities and relationships and reveals how their “sense of purpose and reality are questionedas they journey through their life” when they face a challenge of their daughter’s condition.Mohammed Rashed Buali actually trained to be a lawyer, dealing with commercial and personal law before turning to filmmaking with his first short film in 2006. He went on to win the Golden Lion at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia in 2010, and is the Artistic Director of the Naqsh Short Film Festival. “The Sleeping Tree” is his debut feature film and has already been nominated for the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Award.Lasting eight days this year, the Green Caravan Film Festival kicks off at the Yarmouk Cultural Centre in Kuwait on Tuesday 15 March. The program includes a selection of Middle Eastern shorts, and will offer an “In Conversation” with filmmaker Saleh Nass in cooperation with Al Riwaq Art Space in Bahrain. All events are free admission and the audience will judge the competition for the first time.“The festival believes that the powerful medium of the visual arts can be a catalyst for positive change and we hope that it will entertain and challenge all those involved,” says a statement on the official GCFF website, where the full schedule can be found.
↧