DUBAI: Prominent Indian actor Irrfan Khan will receive an honorary award at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) in recognition of his contribution to film throughout a career that began over 30 years ago,
Khan, the former Muhr AsiaAfrica Award winner for “Best Actor — Feature” for “The Lunchbox” in 2008, will return to DIFF to receive the honorary award on Dec. 13.
Khan began his acting career working in Indian cinema, starring in a number of TV series, and the Academy Award-nominated “Salaam Bombay!”
Khan first gained international acclaim for his role in “The Warrior” (2001), a film circa feudal India in the State of Rajasthan where Khan plays Lafcadia, a fierce warrior who abandons his tyrannical lord to seek peace in his village. Thereafter Khan starred in Asvin Kumar’s short film, “Road to Ladakh” (2003) which received warm reviews on the international festival circuit.
In the nineteen-time Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe winning smash hit, “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), Khan played the police inspector and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance.
DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma, said: “Irrfan Khan is one of the greats of acting and cinema, with an array of acting credits that are testament to his incredible talents and his adaptability to play varying roles across many genres.”
His dedication to acting and the film industry, his ascension from small roles in Indian cinema to blockbuster hits, and his award-winning acclaim are just some of the reasons why we at DIFF are delighted to present him with a DIFF honorary award at the festival’s 14th edition.”
Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan to be honored at Dubai film festival
Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan to be honored at Dubai film festival
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
