DIFF movies hot on Oscar buzz

As global buzz for the 82^nd Annual Academy Awards (Oscars) gains steam, the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) 2009 selection of movies features prominently in the nominations.

In all, movies screened at DIFF have clinched 30 nominations with Nine and Avatar, the opening and closing galas of the festival, respectively, leading the list in sheer numbers for potential recognition.

DIFF Artistic Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali said the recognitions for movies screened at DIFF at both Golden Globes and now the Oscars highlight the top-notch programming associated with the event.

“DIFF is committed to bringing the best of film experiences from around the world. The recognition gained by movies screened in Dubai at the world’s foremost award events highlight the quality of film selection. These films offer an insight into modern film making for the audiences and serve to inspire regional filmmakers.”

While Avatar is top contender for ‘Best Picture,’ Nine gives company in nomination for ‘Art Direction’ and Penelope Cruz billed for the ‘Actress in a Supporting Role.’ Avatar has also won nominations for ‘Cinematography,’ ‘Film Editing,’ ‘Music – Original Score,’ ‘Sound Editing,’ ‘Sound Mixing,’ and ‘Visual Effects,’ in addition to its director James Cameron contending for best direction laurel.

The Hurt Locker, screened at DIFF 2008, gives Avatar a tight chase with nominations for ‘Actor in a Leading Role’ for Jeremy Renner; ‘Cinematography,’ ‘Film Editing,’ ‘Music – Original Score,’ ‘Sound Editing,’ ‘Sound Mixing,’ ‘Writing – Original Screenplay,’ ‘Best Picture’ and director Kathryn Bigelow pitted against Cameron for ‘Directing.’

Nine has won nominations for ‘Costume Design’ as well as ‘Music – Original Song’ for Take it All composed and penned by Maury Yeston. The music awards has a dominance of DIFF movies with The Fantastic Mr. Fox competing for Music – Original Score with Avatar, and two songs (Almost There and Down in New Orleans by Randy Newman) from The Princess and the Frog (Single Disc Widescreen)
giving hot chase for Nine in the category, Music – Original Song.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Princess and the Frog (Single Disc Widescreen), both of which made their Middle East premiere at DIFF 2009, have clinched nominations for ‘Animated Feature Film’ while The Milk of Sorrow from Peru and Un Prophete from France contend for ‘Foreign Language Film.’ Il Divo, which was screened at DIFF 2008 in the In Focus – Italy segment, is another nominee for ‘Makeup.’

The winners will be announced on March 7, 2010, with voting by some 6,000 members of The Academy world-wide currently ongoing.

The sixth edition of DIFF had recorded 50,113 admissions for the 168 films screened. The event was held in association with Dubai Studio City. Dubai Duty Free, Dubai Pearl, Emirates Airline and Madinat Jumeirah were the principal sponsors of DIFF and the event was supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture).