• Home

DIFF Showcases Reel Wonders and Celebrities

The festival, which will showcase over 180 films, marks an important milestone in the emirate’s cultural history as it attempts to ‘bridge cultures’ for the fifth consecutive year.

Even as it aims to entertain audiences, the festival will provide a platform to raise awareness and funds for HIV/Aids research. Luxury items ranging from an exquisite bracelet to a hand-painted dress will be auctioned at the Cinema Against Aids Dubai 2008 gala dinner under the patronage of Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The second annual Cinema Against Aids dinner set to take place at Atlantis, The Palm, on Friday will raise funds for amfAR, the American Foundation for Aids Research that is dedicated to HIV/Aids research, education, and public policy advocacy. Cinema Against Aids is amfAR’s flagship event being held at film festivals around the world in the company of the world’s most famous people. Bollywood damsel Preity Zinta, American actors Salma Hayek, Goldie Hawn, Laura Linney, Casey Affleck and British filmmaker Terry Gillian will be at the event.

“amfAR is an event where the world’s most famous faces come together to make a difference, and Dubai’s philanthropic connoisseurs will be at the centre of a world-renowned event that has a tangible, positive impact on the world,” said Shivani Pandya, DIFF’s managing director.

On auction are Cartier ‘Salma Hayek’ Love Handcuff, customised especially for Cinema Against Aids Dubai by Cartier, with its stunning black crocodile leather strap encrusted with white gold and diamond, an engraved, unique-to-amfAR version of the iconic Cartier LOVE bracelet and a sumptuous fox fur capelet by Dries Van Noten. An exclusive, limited edition hand-painted dress from Balenciaga’s Paris runway show has been offered to amfAR exclusively. The dress took two months to make and is the only piece of its silhouette in the world.

The futuristic Suzuki DRZ 400 SM prototype motorbike used in the film ‘Terminator Salvation - the Future Begins’, starring Christian Bale is also up for grabs.

A lifetime chance for a private one-hour tennis lesson in New York City with tennis legend Monica Seles and lunch with American TV star Kim Catrall from the hit series of

‘Sex and the City’ will also be auctioned.

Three vacations to go under the hammer are the Milan Fashion Extravaganza that includes two tickets to five Milan Fashion Week shows in 2009, the Mandarin Oriental Hotels in Hong Kong and Chiang Mai where on can visit designer emporium Shanghai Tang with a personal shopper and dine with celebrity chef Richard Ekkebus.

A membership with Quintessentially, the luxury group with 24-hour global concierge service, will also be given with it.

Art lovers also can buy personalised portrait of themselves painted by Julian Schnabel, director of ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’. Also to be on auction are Hollywood diva Marilyn Monroe captured in all her glory in print from her 1962 photograph by legendary fashion photographer Bert Stern, and two photographs of Sharon Stone, donated by the actress.

Last year, AmFAR at DIFF saw big names including Sharon Stone, Michelle Yeoh and Rachel Bilson. Pearl Dubai FZ LLC, developers of the Dh15-billion mixed-use Dubai Pearl project, is sponsoring amfAR’s ‘Cinema Against Aids Dubai 2008’ gala dinner.

preeti@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE