Muscat: The 9th Muscat Film Festival opened at the Hormuz Grand Hotel in the Omani capital.
This year’s edition is being held under the title ‘Cinema, Art of Tolerance and Beauty’.
At least 36 films from 25 countries are taking part in the five-day festival, including Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, India, Bahrain, Algeria and Iran.
The festival which is organised by the Omani Film Society every two years will run until Friday (March 25).
Eleven long feature films, 13 short movies and 9 documentaries have been officially nominated for the Golden Dagger (Golden Khanjar).
Three other movies will be shown outside the official competition, reported local Arabic daily Al-Shabiba.
The nominated films include Electra by Petros Seevastokog (Greece), Impressions of Downled Man by Kyros Papavassiliou (Greece), Nahid by Ida Panahandeh (Iran), Pathemari by Salim Ahmed (India) and The Mother by Basil al Khatib (Syria).
The list also includes Le Puit by Lotfi Bouchochi (Algeria), The Sleeping Tree by Mohammed Rashid Buali (Bahrain), Bent al Mashita by Youssef al Balushi (Oman), Khanet el yaak by Amir Ramsis (Egypt), The Half Sky (Morocco) and The Silence of The Shepherd (Iraq).
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