The 17th Damascus International Film Festival kicked off on Saturday night with an artistic performance followed by a screening of the Peruvian movie "The Milk of Sorrow" which won a Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival 2009.
The festival is rich with the participation of 275 films from 52 countries.
The irony of it all is that only two Syrian films, the only two produced this year, are part of the festival!
The festival also celebrates "Al Quds, Capital of Arab Culture 2009" with the screening of the most important Palestinian productions this year and a seminar about the history and status of Palestinian cinema.
Some of the famous Arab actors honored during the opening ceremony where Yusra, Khaled Taja and Amal Arafeh. Syrian director Najdat Anzour was also honored.
The festival ends on November 7th with the screening of the Chinese movie "Forever Enthralled".
Check out this report from BBC about this event:
the opening was soooooooooooooooooo nice i like all z syrian moviesbecause she touch 2 z reality
Yes this film festival is good; it's needed in this part of the world to counter the other negative influences and movements.
can anyone tell me some titles of syrian films. tx.
The only Arabian film festival I actually respect along with the Cairo Film Festival. They have a long history, and are not built on money (Dubai, ehm), and George Clooney, along with other Hollywood actors..
Egypt and Syria are the only two Arabian countries with a true sense for what cinema is in my opinion. Although Algeria, and Morocoo has also produced noticable productions over the year. But Egypt, followed lately by Syria are the ones I can respect in the Middle East today.