EXCLUSIVE: Dubai’s reputation as a travel and entertainment destination has taken a battering in recent months as the emirate got caught in the crosshairs of the U.S.-Iran war but this has not put a stop to the fledgeling Golden Dunes Festival.
Ali and Zeus Zamani, the L.A.-based filmmaking duo behind AZ Filmz, are pushing on with a second edition of the event they spearheaded last year in partnership with Ben Coen, Scott Carlson and Don Worley.
After an inaugural edition revolving around an awards ceremony, the second edition has been expanded to three days and will feature a program of screenings, panels and workshops.
The event announced on Friday that Hellboy star Ron Perlman, Oscar-nominated actress Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog) and Jerry Maguire Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. have signed on as the first wave of jurors for the second edition.
Perlman and Aghdashloo will take particularly active roles, joining panels and workshops alongside fellow jurors and invited industry guests.
“Movies don’t really recognize borders. A great story can come from Los Angeles, Tehran, Seoul or Dubai, and if it’s truthful, it reaches you. That’s what festivals can do at their best, bring filmmakers into the same room and let audiences discover voices they might never otherwise encounter,” said Perlman.
Gooding Jr. added, “Cinema has always been one of the great bridges between cultures. Having participated in Golden Dunes in its first year, I saw firsthand the kind of international exchange that Dubai can create. It is a city where filmmakers and audiences from different parts of the world naturally come together, and there is real value in creating a space where voices from East and West can meet through storytelling.”
The second edition will run from November 28 to 30, with the Golden Dunes Awards taking place on November 29th at the Belcanto at Dubai Opera rooftop venue in downtown Dubai.
“Our first year was about establishing Golden Dunes. Year two is about opening it up. We want filmmakers coming to Dubai for three days, not simply attending an awards ceremony sitting in a room with people like Ron and Shohreh,” said Ali Zamani.
“It’s about their experiences, discovering films from other countries and building relationships with filmmakers they might never otherwise meet.”
The first wave of the jury panel combines several generations and areas of filmmaking. Perlman’s credits include Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy, Nightmare Alley and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.
Aghdashloo received an Academy Award nomination for House of Sand and Fog and won an Emmy for House of Saddam, with subsequent credits including The Expanse and The Flight Attendant.
Gooding Jr. won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Jerry Maguire after breaking through in John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood, with additional credits including A Few Good Men, Men of Honor and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
