Started in 2014, Cinema Space is a fully voluntary and independent initiative to share beautifully restored classics and contemporary world cinema through free community screenings for audiences and enthusiasts in Abu Dhabi. Come one, come all, and bring guests to discover essential cinema! Explore programs below.
All programs are free and open to audiences. RSVP is mandatory due to limited seating.
Please select an upcoming program in the "All Programs" section below and click on the RSVP button to view information about the film and reserve your spot. You will receive an automatic email confirmation after registering on the individual film page.
(Please see full program and details in 'All Programs' section below)
Presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan
(NEW FILM RESTORATION!)
Film Info:
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Japan
1965
183 minutes
In Japanese with English Subtitles
RATING: ( G ) - General Audiences (all ages admitted)
(Please RSVP for the free showing by going to the 'All Programs' section below)
Free Film Screening
(NEW FILM RESTORATION!)
Directed by Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan
United Kingdom | 1940 | 106 minutes | In English
RATING: ( G ) - General Audiences (all ages admitted)
Synopsis: Legendary producer Alexander Korda's marvel The Thief of Bagdad, inspired by The Arabian Nights, is one of the most spectacular fantasy films ever made, an eye-popping effects pioneer brimming with imagination and technical wizardry. When Prince Ahmad (John Justin) is blinded and cast out of Bagdad by the nefarious Grand Vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), he joins forces with the scrappy thief Abu (the incomparable Sabu, in his definitive role) to win back his royal place, as well as the heart of a beautiful princess (June Duprez) embarking on a series of fantastical adventures, including an unforgettable encounter with a Djinn (Rex Ingram), from whom Abu manages to extract three precious wishes. The Thief of Bagdad won three Oscars (Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Special Effects) as well as a nomination for Best Original Score. With its luscious Technicolor, vivid sets, and unprecedented visual wonders, The Thief of Bagdad is a magical, atmospheric and universally acclaimed epic that has charmed viewers of all ages for decades.
Presented by the Embassy of Spain in Abu Dhabi
Free Film Screening
Directed by Alberto Rodríguez
Spain | 2014 | 105 minutes
In Spanish with English Subtitles
RATING: ( 18+ ) - Suitable for viewers ages 18 and above
Synopsis: The Spanish Deep South, 1980. A series of brutal murders of adolescent girls in a remote and forgotten town bring together two disparate characters - both detectives in the homicide division - to investigate the cases. With deep divisions in their ideology, detectives Juan and Pedro must put aside their differences if they are to successfully hunt down a killer who for years has terrorized a community in the shadow of a general disregard for women rooted in a misogynistic past. Marshland swept Spain's Goya Awards, winning 10 prizes including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. As narratively taut as it is richly atmospheric, the film keeps viewers guessing throughout and delivers a brilliant procedural thriller with surprising nuance.
monday, october 14 (7:30pm - 9:30pm)
Venue: NYUAD ARTS CENTER
Free Film Screening (featuring Q&A session with director!)
Presented by Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and the NYUAD Film and New Media Program
Directed by Reem Saleh
Egypt | 2018 | 79 minutes
In Arabic with English Subtitles
RATING: Suitable for viewers ages 16 and above
Synopsis: In one of the poorest neighborhoods of Cairo, the community is the only way for hope. 'One big family’ is how protagonist Um Ghareeb describes the ‘al Gami’yas’ in Rod El Farag, one of Cairo’s poorest districts. In these communities, which comprise several members of the quarter's inhabitants, everyone regularly contributes a small amount of money into a pot. At weekly meetings, a collective decision is made as to who is currently the neediest, or who will receive some cash in order to purchase something they really need. Reem Saleh spent six years following the members of one such community with her camera. She reveals their daily struggle for survival and lets them have their say when it comes to their attitudes to tradition, sickness, and death. The film’s understated use of music and the proximity and participatory nature of the camerawork allows Saleh to create an intimate portrait of mutual support and solidarity in an inhospitable world poised, quite literally, between the railway tracks. (Presented by the NYUAD Film and New Media Program in partnership with Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and The Arts Center.)
Presented by the Embassy of Norway in Abu Dhabi
Free Film Screening
Directed by Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg
Norway | 2012 | 119 minutes
In Norwegian with English Subtitles
RATING: ( PG-13 ) - Parental Guidance is advised
Synopsis: Based on the amazing true adventure of Thor Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Hagen), Kon-Tiki is the tale of Norwegian explorer in 1947 who embarks on the voyage of a lifetime - a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean on the Kon-Tiki raft to prove a point. From his days living in the Marquesas with his wife Liv, Thor suspected that the Polynesian Islands had been settled by ancient South Americans from thousands of miles to the east. When the scientific community rejects his theory, Heyerdahl resolves to prove its validity - and save his reputation - by sailing the legendary voyage himself. After replicating the design of an ancient raft in balsa wood, Thor recruits a group of five men who are just bold enough to tackle the seemingly impossible trip and sets sail from Peru. Their only modern equipment is a radio, and they take a parrot along for company. A natural leader, Thor uses the stars and the oceans current to navigate the raft on the epic 101 day-long journey across the treacherous ocean encountering raging storms, sharks, and all the dangers the ocean can muster to meet his fate, while the world watches.
Presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan
Free Film Screening
(NEW FILM RESTORATION!)
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Japan | 1965 | 183 minutes
In Japanese with English Subtitles
RATING: ( G ) - General Audiences (all ages admitted)
Synopsis: Four Japanese folk tales were adapted for this rapturously stylized anthology from the great Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi, which received an Academy Award nomination for Foreign Language Film. In the tradition of classic multi-story supernatural films, Kwaidan tells four ghost stories. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup. Kobayashi uses luminous cinematography, colorfully surreal sets and the eerie, electronic-flecked music of Toru Takemitsu to create a visually and aurally imaginative work of fantasy that called upon the director's painterly roots. These haunting tales of demonic comeuppance and spiritual trials, adapted from writer Lafcadio Hearn’s collections of Japanese folklore, are existentially frightening and meticulously crafted. Decades before “J-horror” became an influential movement in international genre cinema, Kwaidan chilled audiences around the world and is presented in the original three-hour cut, never before released.
Free Film Screening - (Family Friendly)
(NEW FILM RESTORATION!)
Directed by Charles Barton
USA | 1948 | 83 minutes | In English
RATING: ( G ) - General Audiences (all ages admitted)
Synopsis: Comedy meets horror when Bud Abbott and Lou Costello encounter Universal's classic monsters in the frightfully funny Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The world of baggage handlers Chick Young (Abbott) and Wilbur Grey (Costello) is turned upside down when they receive the remains of Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and Frankenstein (Glenn Strange) bound for the House of Horrors museum. When Dracula and Frankenstein escape, complete chaos ensues as Chick and Wilbur get mixed up in an evil plot to switch Wilbur's brain with Frankenstein's and are aided by Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.), who turns into The Wolf Man when the moon is full! Featuring a perfect blend of laughs and thrills, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is one the all-time great horror comedies.
Presented by the Korean Cultural Center in the UAE
Free Film Screening
GOK-SEONG (original title)
Directed by Na Hong Jin
South Korea | 2016 | 157 minutes
In Korean with English Subtitles
Rating ( 18+ ) - Suitable for viewers ages 18 and above
Synopsis: In this unbelievably tense supernatural thriller, a foreigner’s mysterious appearance in a quiet, rural village causes suspicion among the locals - suspicion which quickly turns to hysteria as the townspeople begin attacking each other in brutal outbursts for seemingly no reason. As the investigating officer Jong-goo watches his daughter fall under the same savage spell, he agrees to consult a shaman for answers - unknowingly escalating the situation into something far more dangerous. Over six years in the making, director Na Hong-jin’s meticulously crafted follow-up to his globally acclaimed films The Yellow Sea and The Chaser paints a frightening picture of superstition, with its pagan rituals and shamanistic devil exorcisms, smashing box office records upon its debut in South Korea and leading fans to make return viewings and catch new clues about what is one of the most talked-about endings in Korean cinema.
(Organized and Presented by Zayed University as part of "The Tasaamuh Film Series: Paths of Tolerance" in collaboration with Manarat Al Saadiyat and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism)
PROGRAM 1: TOLERANCE AND POVERTY
RSVP by Email to: beatrice.rodriguez@zu.ac.ae
Free Film Screening (followed by discussion)
Directed by Satyajit Ray
India | 1973 | 101 minutes
In Bengali with English Subtitles
Rating ( PG-15 ) - Parental Guidance is advised
Synopsis: At the onset of the 1942-43 Bengal famine, Gangacharan, a local Brahmin (Soumitra Chatterjee) attempts to preserve his privileged situation in the village, while his generous wife, Ananga (Babita), conversely tries her best to help and support the community.
About the Discussion: After watching the 1973 classic from India's most famous director, join a discussion on tolerance and poverty with Dr. Habibul Khondker (Professor of Sociology, Zayed University) and Bengali filmmaker and UN consultant, Suvra Chakraborty.
Free Film Screening
Directed by Edoardo De Angelis
Italy | 2016 | 103 minutes
In Italian with English Subtitles
Rating ( G ) - General Audiences (all ages admitted)
Synopsis: Indivisible is an award-winning Italian drama about the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood. Daisy and Viola (Angela and Marianna Fontana) are twin sisters on the verge of turning 18 and living in the suburbs of Naples. They are blessed with beautiful voices and, thanks to their performances at local weddings, communions and baptisms, have become the breadwinners for their entire family. Their real draw is another trait which cloaks them in fascinating charm: they are siamese twins. While Daisy is longing for a boyfriend and dreams of her independence, Viola can hardly imagine a life without her sister. Kept isolated from the world by their exploitative father, their lives are turned upside down when one of them falls in love for the first time...and they discover that it is possible for them to be separated. Director Edoardo de Angelis' third film is a fabulous, surreal fable tackling such topics as (physical) identity, the ordinary as well as solidarity in a materialistic world.
(Organized and Presented by Zayed University as part of "The Tasaamuh Film Series: Paths of Tolerance" in collaboration with Manarat Al Saadiyat and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism)
PROGRAM 2: SUPERSTITION AND REASON
RSVP by Email to: beatrice.rodriguez@zu.ac.ae
(NEW FILM RESTORATION!)
Free Film Screening (followed by discussion)
Directed by Benjamin Christensen
Denmark | 1922 | 105 minutes
with Swedish Intertitles and English Subtitles
Rating ( PG-15 ) - Parental Guidance is advised
Synopsis: Benjamin Christensen’s groundbreaking film explores medieval European witchcraft through the contemporary lens of 1920's psychoanalytic theory. A historic first in the Middle East!
About the Discussion: The screening of the Swedish and Danish silent movie Häxan (1922) – known to its English-speaking audiences as Witchcraft Through the Ages – will be followed by a discussion of this classic film’s significant comment on the trials and tribulations of tolerance. Join Dr. James Redman (Zayed University) as he examines the pioneering vision of Benjamin Christensen.
Free Film Screening
(NEW FILM RESTORATION!)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
USA | 1960 | 109 minutes | In English
RATING: ( 15+ ) - Suitable for viewers ages 15 and above
Synopsis: One of the most shocking films of all time, director Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is a landmark masterpiece of the macabre from the Master of Suspense. Janet Leigh stars as Phoenix secretary Marion Crane, absconding with a small fortune of her employer’s money. Anthony Perkins is nervous Norman Bates, proprietor of the Bates Motel where Miss Crane makes the unfortunate mistake of stopping for the night. At first a private detective, then Marion's sister (Vera Miles) searches for her, the horror and the suspense mount to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed. Hitchcock’s film has become a cultural phenomenon and remains a mind-blowingly thrilling experience creating one of cinema's most notorious psychopaths.
(Organized and Presented by Zayed University as part of "The Tasaamuh Film Series: Paths of Tolerance" in collaboration with Manarat Al Saadiyat and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism)
PROGRAM 3: TOLERANCE, REFUGEES AND HUMOR
RSVP by Email to: beatrice.rodriguez@zu.ac.ae
Free Film Screening (followed by discussion)
Directed by Cynthia Choucair
Lebanon | 2018 | 87 minutes
In Arabic with English Subtitles
Rating ( PG-15 ) - Parental Guidance is advised
Synopsis: A group of clowns travel to the Greek island of Lesvos on a mission to bring laughter to the waves of refugees crossing the sea to escape from war and enter Europe. Unwittingly, the clowns find themselves greeted with closed gates witnessing the effects of new policies enacted by the European Union towards the refugees. Cynthia, the sister of one of the clowns, joins them on their journey which slowly becomes a reflection on the sisters’ own tale of displacement during the Lebanese civil war.
About the Discussion: The director and her sister will address the audience from Lebanon, followed by a short talk by humanities scholar and filmmaker, Dr. Nezar Andary (Zayed University) with an educational performance by Italian Actor and Clown Francesca Bizzarri (NYUAD). A unique experience for the audience.
(Organized and Presented by Zayed University as part of "The Tasaamuh Film Series: Paths of Tolerance" in collaboration with Manarat Al Saadiyat and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism)
PROGRAM 4: COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS
RSVP by Email to: beatrice.rodriguez@zu.ac.ae
Free Film Screening (followed by discussion)
EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE
Directed by Ciro Guerra
Colombia | 2018 | 125 minutes
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Rating ( PG-15 ) - Parental Guidance is advised
Synopsis: Embrace of the Serpent tells the story of the relationship between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of forty years to search the Amazon for a sacred healing plant. This event questions the relationship between knowledge and culture, confronts the ethnographic impulse, and discusses tolerance in relationship to colonialism.
About the Discussion: A conversation will be led by Dr. Ximena Cordova (Zayed University) and Dr. Javier Mejia (NYUAD) with the participation of the director and producer of the film.
