Damascus International Film Festival Celebrates 30th Anniversary.

Damascus, (SANA) -- The upcoming 17th Damascus International Film Festival celebrates the 30th anniversary of establishing the festival, Director General of the Cinema Establishment Mohammad al-Ahmad said on Sunday.Te festival will include competitions for feature-length films and short films, in addition to the international film market that features renowned and award-winning movies including 32 of the latest cinematic productions.Other activities include six events dedicated to directors Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini, Sydney Pollack, Nikita Mikhalkov, Charley Chaplin and Fritz Lang.Another event is dedicated to the iconic star Marilyn Monroe, in addition to an even dedicated to French actor Alain Delon, an even celebrating the masterpieces of the 80's, and an event dedicated to French actress Michele Mercier.The festival will also celebrate the "Jerusalem, Capital of Arab Culture 2009" festivities by the "Palestine in the Eyes of the Cinema" event, which will show movies discussing the Palestinian cause from Syria, Tunisia, Egypt and other countries, in addition to a seminar on the state of Palestinian cinema and a tribute to Jerusalem in the form of the move "The Gate of Heaven" directed by Maher Kedo.The festival will have three panels of judges. The feature-length films panel will be chaired by Oscar-winner French director Regis Wargnier, the Arabic films panel will be chaired by Syrian writer Hassan M. Youssef, while the short films panel will be chaired by Swiss director Martin Gero.The festival will honor a number of actors, directors and producers, including Amal Arafeh, Khaled Taja, Marwan Haddad and Najdat Anzour from Syria, Yousra from Egypt, Rashid Farsho from Tunisia, Huseein al Qalla from Palestine, Victoria Abril from Spain, Ursula Andress from Switzerland, Emir Kusturica from Bosnia and Akbar Khan from India.The opening movie is the award-winning Peruvian movie "The Milk of Sorrow," and the closing movie is "Forever Enthralled" by Chen Kaige.Syria will participate in the festival with three feature-length films; "The Gate of Heaven" by Maher Kedo, "Once More" by Jawdat Said, and an animated movie titled "Jasmine Birds" by Razam Hijazi, in addition to a number of short films.H. Sabbagh

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