Editor

Sir Ben Kingsley will attend the special presentation screening of the award-winning film Ghandi on Saturday 11th October at Emirates Palace for the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) 2008.

The film, which has been dubbed into Arabic will have its first local premiere at an international film festival giving the dubbed film global outreach.

Directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, Ghandi was a critical and box-office success when it made its worldwide debut in 1982 - and was the most accolade film in its year, receiving a total of 31 awards and 16 nominations. This included winning eight Oscars at the 1983 Academy Awards including ‘Best Picture’, “Best Leading Actor’ and ‘Best Director’.

The tale of the “half-naked fakir” (famously quoted by Winston Churchill), Ghandi is the story of a man who took on an Empire with nothing but truth, non-violence and indomitable will…and won. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (commonly known as Mahatma Ghandi, meaning “great soul”) was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of Satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

One of the UK’s most acclaimed and well-known actors, Ben Kingsley’s intimate portrayal of Ghandi earned him an Academy Award for ‘Best Leading Actor’ and is his best-known film role to date. Sir Ben is one of the few men to have won all four major motion picture awards, with Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award wins throughout his career. He was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000 and was knighted in the 2001 New Years Honours list.

“As the principle organiser of MEIFF 2008, one of our intrinsic values is the celebration of culture,” said Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Vice Chairman of MEIFF and Director General of The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH).

For further information please visit: www.meiff.com.