The fifth Gulf Film Festival kicked off in Dubai on Tuesday with the screening of Kuwaiti feature film Tora Bora on a night which saw a bevy of Arab and Gulf stars walking the red carpet.

Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), opened the festival which boasts of an exciting showcase of 155 quality films from 40 nations this year.

A major highlight of the evening was the festival honour to veteran Bahraini filmmaker Bassam Al-Thawadi and the grand salute to legendary Iranian actor Behrouz Vossoughi for their contribution to the cinema.

The festival will continue through April 16 at Dubai Festival City, with a parallel screening of the festival’s key films to be screened over the weekend from April 12 to 14 at the Abu Dhabi Theatre.

In all, 347 films are being screened at the festival, across its Gulf, Gulf Student and International shorts competitions; and the out-of-competition Lights, Intersections, Films for Children, Cherries of Kiarostami and Gerard Courant showcases.

The opening film Tora Bora revolves around a young man’s decision to join extremist forces in Afghanistan, and his parents’ agonized search for him, also marks the veteran Kuwaiti actor Saad Al Faraj’s return to feature films after decades.

A number of stars from the region walked the red carpet. The UAE list included Alaa Al Nuaimi, Marwan Abdullah Saleh, Mansoor Al Ghassani, Mansoor Al Fili, Fatema Al Jassim, Huda Al Khatib, Hani Al Shibani, Mohammed Saeed Al Salti, Abdulrahman Al Zarouni, Adel Ibrahim, Hassan Youssef, Reem, Khalid Ali, Ahmed Nasser, Omar Al Mulla, Huda Salah, Nivine Madhi, Alia Al Shamsi, Huda Hamdan, Bilal Abdullah, Habib Ghuloom, Rawya Abdullah, Aisha Abdullah, Jassim Obaid and Shaimaa Al Janahi.

The Kuwaiti celebrities list included Tora Bora director Walid Al Awadi and the stars of the movie, Saad Al Farraj, Khalid Ameen and Al Araby Al Sassy.

The evening also saw other Arab and Gulf celebrities including Basima Hamada, Shahd Yasen, Basm Al Amir, Abeer Al Jundi, Ahmed Abraaj, Zyna Karam, Mohammed Khalifa,  Hassan Yaseen, Ahmed Mubarak, Saud Ali,  Ibrahim Al Hasawi, Abdulaziz Jaseem, Nasser Mohammad, Mohammed Yaseen, Mariam Sultan, Zahra, Haifa Hussein, Ala’a Shakir and Fatema Abdulrahim.

GFF 2012 is being held at the InterContinental Hotel, Crowne Plaza and Grand Festival Cinemas at Dubai Festival City; and from April 12 to 14 at the Abu Dhabi Theatre.-TradeArabia News Service