Abu Dhabi bid farewell to the third annual Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF), which held its closing ceremony at the Emirates Palace Hotel on Saturday evening. The event's ten days of cinema screenings featured 128 films -- including 17 narrative features, 14 documentary features, 25 short films and ten student shorts -- all of which competed for Black Pearl Awards. Since it began in 2007, the MEIFF has managed to hold its own among rival international film festivals, such the Berlin International Film Festival, the International Cinema Festival of India and the Cairo and Dubai International Film Festivals. It has distinguished itself by bridging the gap between East and West by featuring a diverse slate of international film selections and introducing up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world. The event's global appeal has drawn crowds in increasing numbers: attendance at this year's MEIFF was some 300 percent higher than last year's. The closing ceremony saw a number of big Hollywood names on the red carpet. Actress Eve Mendes, wearing a full length white dress, and "Lord of the Rings" star Orlando Bloom both expressed optimism about the future of the movie business in the Middle East. When asked about shooting films in the region, actress Naomi Watts -- wearing a floral gown -- said, “I'm very open to filming here.” Awards and cash prizes received at MEIFF 2009: Black Pearl Award for Best Narrative Film ($100,000): "Hipsters" (Stilyagi), directed by Valery Todorovsky (Russia) Black Pearl Award for Best New Narrative Director ($50,000): Glendyn Ivin for "Last Ride" (Australia) Black Pearl Award for Best Middle Eastern Narrative Film ($100,000): "The Time That Remains" (Al Zaman Al Baqi), directed by Elia Suleiman (Palestine, UK, Italy, Belgium, France) Black Pearl Award for Best New Middle Eastern Narrative Director ($50,000): Pelin Esmer for "10 to 11" (Turkey, France, Germany) Black Pearl Award for Best Actor ($25,000): Hamed Behdad in "No One Knows about Persian Cats," directed by Bahman Ghobadi (Iran) Black Pearl Award for Best Actress ($25,000): Alicia Laguna and Sonia Couoh in "Northless" (Norteado), directed by Rigoberto Pérezcano (Mexico) Black Pearl Award for Best Documentary Film ($100,000): "The Frontier Gandhi: Badshah Khan, A Torch for Peace," directed by T. C. McLuhan (Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, USA) Black Pearl Award for Best Narrative Short ($25,000): "The Six Dollar Fifty Man," directed by Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland (New Zealand) Black Pearl Award for Best Documentary Short ($25,000): "Wagah," directed by Supriyo Sen and Najaf Bilgrami (Pakistan, India, Germany) Black Pearl Award for Best Student Short, First Prize ($15,000): "Anna," directed by Runar Runarsson (Denmark) Audience Choice Award ($25,000): "No One Knows about Persian Cats," directed by Bahman Ghobadi (Iran) The awards ceremony wrapped up with a screening of the new feature film, "The Men who stare at Goats" (starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor), which tells the story of a secret unit within the US Army -- the "First Earth Battalion" -- devoted to "paranormal" military techniques. The movie's director and stars, currently working on new film projects, did not attend the screening. Festival director Peter Scarlett, however, made it up to the audience by bringing five live goats onstage instead.
