Dubai International Film Festival

Every year, Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) presents a program of classic movies in addition to a slew of new ones, and this year it treated festivalgoers to a beach screening of A Fistful of Dollars, in a new copy restored thanks to a grant by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA. )The screening was attended by over 450 cinema lovers, who cheered enthusiastically upon hearing about the HFPA’s contribution to restoring 84 classics.

While the region around it has descended in political chaos and religious strife, Dubai continues to flourish and prosper. Its international film festival (DIFF), which was launched 12 years ago, in order to enhance understanding and form a cultural bridge between East and West following the September 11 attacks, has become a thriving hub for Arab and international cinema.