Dubai International Film Festival

YOUSSEF CHAHINE: no Arab filmmaker can match this Egyptian director's accomplishments. Our hero, newspaper seller Al Qinawi (spontaneously played by Youssef Chahine), lives among the platforms and carriages of Cairo's railway station. He resents two of his friends and fellow station workers, one for being a strong, healthy man, the other, a soft drinks seller, for being a sexy woman. He alternates between derangement and a gentle, oppressed character. Fifty years on, this remains one of the best Arab films.

Chahine tackles social issues in truthful fashion, with a story in the vein of Beauty and the Beast. Young Noor lives with her mother and dreams of marrying the honest district attorney whom she secretly loves. Noor's neighbour, however, a violent policeman who jails and tortures innocent demonstrators, desires her at any cost. When the attorney falls for Noor, he sparks a bitter love struggle - and an investigation into the officer's sadistic practices.

Jang Seoung-up, tempestuous and rebellious, was one of the most famous artists of the Joeson period. He stood alone, creating his own style and form, producing sumptuous landscapes, vibrant flowers, and erotic portraits. His life represents a tumultuous period of Korean history. His story resonates closely with the life of Im Kwon-taek, himself a child of the political labyrinth that is Korea.

Harry (Danny Glover) is an unexpected visitor from the South, who ingratiates himself into a black Los Angeles family. The mood shifts nightmarishly, as he seems to be a force of evil, and the family must confront him. Burnett's classic is almost a horror film, but one built on subtleties and a marvellous performance by Glover, cast against type.

Danny Glover is centre stage in John Sayles' charming, humorous and blues-soaked evocation of the 1950s American South. Honeydripper is a fading Alabama juke-joint, run by blues-loving Ty ‘Pine Top' Purvis (Glover). He desperately needs a miracle to save the place and lure back the crowds, but will it be brought by the young guitar-playing nobody or, as he hopes, the elusive star Guitar Sam?