ABU DHABI, 4 Dec, 04 (WAM) - The first-ever animated film produced inthe Gulf will make its world premiere at the first-ever Dubai InternationalFilm Festival, Festival organisers announced yesterday. The film, TheJungle Kid (Ibn Al Ghabah), is the result of a joint AGCC production ventureand will be screened at 2.30 pm on Thursday (December 9) at Cinema 5 atthe Mercato Mall.

Masoud Amralla Al Ali, programmer of the Festival's "Arabian Nights"segment, said the inclusion of this film is a reflection of the festival'saims, according to a report in +Khaleej Times.+Amralla, the founder-director of the Emirates Film Competition, is alsothe artistic director of the UAE Cultural Foundation.

"This is a great addition to our festival line-up, not only because itis a first for the Arab world, but also because we want to encourage Arabfilmmakers to break new ground," Amralla said. "It is a well-crafted film,and is sure to have strong inter-generational appeal because of its storyand its message." The film is based on the classic Arabic novel Hai binYaqzan by famous Arab writer Ibn Toufyl, and tells the story of an infantraised by a deer after being abandoned in the woods. Eventually, the youngboy starts to examine the ways of nature and the universe around him andembarks on a search for the maker of all things.

The original 12th century story of Hai bin Yaqzan is believed to be oneof the most popular pieces of literature to emerge from the Middle Ages,and is considered by many to have been the prototype for Daniel Defoe'sRobinson Crusoe.

The 88-minute family film is the latest creation from the AGCC JointProgrammes Production Institution, a Kuwait-based group with a historyof creating quality educational programming for Arabic-speaking children.

The institution, which is jointly funded by all the Gulf states, earlierproduced Iftah Ya Simsim, the Arab version of Sesame Street.

The Jungle Kid uses a combination of traditional 2-D animation and moderncomputer-generated 3-D animation, and the vocal talents of several Arabstars including Ghanim Al Suleity, Sanaa Younis, Fathiyya Ibrahim andAbdul Nasser Al Zayer. Completing the pan-Arab creative team is Iraqidirector Thamer Al Zaidi, who will be in Dubai for the Festival.

"We do not have a history of animation like the Japanese or Americans,so we cannot really compare the first pan-Arab production with those establishedtraditions," Amralla added. "But this is certainly a good beginning."