Stars descend on Dubai for an unmissable opening night to DIFF's 12th Edition

Naseeruddin Shah, Catherine Deneuve, Ezzat Al Alayli and Jacob Tremblay wowed on the Festival’s Red Carpet

Dubai, December 10th, 2015 – The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) brought a roaring opening to its 12th edition in a stellar Red Carpet Opening Gala that saw stars revel in the excitement of the festival, and the screening of Lenny Abrahamson’s suspenseful and heartrending drama ‘Room’ based on Emma Donoghue’s 2010 best-selling novel of the same name.

The Festival was honoured by the presence of HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Stars that graced the Red Carpet on the unmissable opening night include Naseeruddin Shah, Catherine Deneuve, Ezzat Al Alayli, Laila Elwi, Elham Shahin, Hend Sabry, Possy, Hany Abu-Assad, Michael B. Jordan, Deepa Mehta and Anu Menon, who wowed on the Festival’s Red Carpet. Jacob Tremblay, the young star of ‘Room’, topped off a spectacular day as he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for the film.

Kick-starting the exceptional slate of films for the festival is Lenny Abrahamson’s ‘Room’ which tells the extraordinary tale of a young mother and her five year-old son living out their lives in the confines of a tiny windowless room. With Brie Larson starring as ‘Ma’, ‘Room’ evoked the emotions of audiences as they delved into the unbreakable bond between a mother and her child as they face down a life of entrapment.

With film greats such as Jake Gyllenhaal expected to grace the festival with their presence over the coming days, recognition of the contributions from such film industry pioneers is at the forefront of DIFF and through DIFF’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Indian actor and legend of the silver screen Naseeruddin Shah, esteemed Egyptian actor Ezzat Al Alayli, award-winning French-Tunisian actor Sami Bouajila and the grande dame of French cinema Catherine Deneuve were the esteemed recipients of the Award on the opening night.

The DIFF box office is open online on at www.dubaifilmfest.com. Additional information is also available through the Festival’s dedicated customer care number, 363 FILM (3456).