The Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival is flooding Rio's beach-obsessed metropolis with some 400 movies, including new offerings from top directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and Stephen Frears.
The festival, which opened on Thursday and runs until October 11, is Latin America's largest in terms of sheer volume, with films from more than 60 countries. They are being shown at some 30 venues, including commercial movie theatres, an open-air screen on Copacabana beach and in the Complexo Alemao hillside shantytown. Organisers have said they want to bring movies to people in poor neighbourhoods who might not normally set foot in a cinema.
The screenings launched with the highly anticipated Gonzaga - from Father to Son by the Brazilian director Breno Silveira, whose 2005 biopic about two Brazilian country music stars, Two Sons of Francisco, was among the most popular Brazilian films of recent years, setting box office records.
Gonzaga examines the rocky relationship between the legendary folk musician Luiz Gonzaga and his son, Gonzaguinha, also a famous singer. The audience, which included the Little Miss Sunshine directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and the Korean filmmaker Sang-soo Im, roared, whistled and yelped its approval.
Other highlights include Coppola's Twixt, Frears's Lay the Favourite, Michel Gondry's The We and the I and Spike Lee's Michael Jackson Bad 25.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
RESULTS
Argentina 4 Haiti 0
Peru 2 Scotland 0
Panama 0 Northern Ireland 0
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Seven tips from Emirates NBD
1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details
4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies
7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately
