Thursday, Apr 01, 2010
Gulf News
Dubai Gulf Film Festival (GFF), the annual event celebrating Gulf cinema this year shines the spotlight on contemporary French filmmaker François Vogel with an eclectic selection of his 16 short films.
The festival is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Majid Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Culture,
Globally-renowned for his arresting visuals that blend the best of traditional filmmaking with New Age digital media, Vogel is as much an illustrious digital photographer as a filmmaker who experiments with cubist squares, three dimensional approaches and free-moving elements.
GFF Festival Director Masoud Amr Allah Al Ali said the selection of Vogel's shorts for the In Focus segment of the festival is reflective of the evolution in film-making techniques today. "With technology breaking down all barriers in film-making, young filmmakers show a growing interest in digital filmmaking techniques."
"Vogel is known for his creative liberties in manipulating the space between the subject and the camera, even as he explores serious subject matter such as the absurdity of wars.
"His movies will serve as a referral point in new age film-making, and inspire regional filmmakers to look beyond the accepted frontiers," he added.
Vogel began his career in visual arts with video artist Dominik Barbier's gallery installations and gained international acclaim with his ‘You' campaign for HP.
He conceputalised the ‘Picture Book' campaign that won AdWeek's Campaign of the Year.
A modern film-maverick of sorts, Francois Vogel's repertoire to be screened at the third edition of GFF to be held from April 8 to 14 include: After the Rain; Cuisine; Rebus; Les Crabes; Tournis; Trois petits chats; Readymade, Live @ the End; Rue Francis; Faux plafond; Cueillette; La Poule Gerard; Le Bruit de la vrillette; Riante contree; La Sieste sous les cocotiers; Un cirque vraiment extraordinaire; and Stretching.
The third edition of the Gulf Film Festival will be held from April 8 to April 14. The festival is supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and is held in association with Dubai Studio City. More details on the festival are available online at www.gulffilmfest.com.
Staff Report
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