DIFF 2016 an opportunity to stand up for free expression in UAE
Since 2004, the annual Dubai International Film Festival (“DIFF”), which runs from December 7 to December 14 this year, has had the ironic distinction of overlapping with the UN’s Human Rights Day on December 10. DIFF 2016 is no exception.
DIFF is presented as an arts festival to expose local audiences to international cinema and “develop a thriving film culture in the region,” but the fact that it is sponsored and controlled by the Dubai government betrays a stark double-standard .
On the one hand, the government invites international stars like Tom Cruise and Cate Blanchett for DIFF’s red-carpet photo ops while on the other, it imposes harsh arbitrary restrictions on free expression. Homegrown filmmakers are imprisoned, and ordinary residents are routinely jailed for acts as innocuous as tweeting or posting pictures of animals or a parked car on social media.
Samuel L. Jackson headlines DIFF 2016’s slate of stars. He and his fellow celebrities at DIFF 2016 have an opportunity to bring attention to the stark contradiction between DIFF’s imported glamor and what Human Rights Watch and English PEN have called “ The UAE’s assault on free expression "
For a precedent, they can look to the actions of the international writers who were invited to the 2016 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature , another arts festival sponsored by the Dubai government, earlier this year. After the Think Twice Campaign highlighted the UAE government’s positions on free speech, human rights, and climate change, a number of British writers and illustrators—including some who were scheduled to appear—signed a pledge to forego the festival until those issues are addressed. Writers AC Grayling and Chris Haughton chose to attend, but made it a point to meet with Emirati human-rights activist Ahmed Mansoor, whom authorities have previously imprisoned, targeted with sophisticated spyware , and banned from leaving the country. Grayling took the extra step of addressing the UAE’s record on free expression during his public talks.
If Jackson and his colleagues follow the writers’ lead, they will send a powerful signal that they stand with the UAE people and their right to free expression.
