Tag Archives: environment
Movies a passion for Emirati filmmaker Majid Abdulrazak
Movies a passion for Emirati filmmaker Majid Abdulrazak Dhanusha Gokulan / 17 October 2013 Majid Abdulrazak has written, directed, acted in and produced three movies since his first film, Eqaab Bitten by the movie bug For Emirati filmmaker Majid Abdulrazak, the turning point in his life was when he read The Count of Monte Cristo, the 1844 novel by French novelist Alexandre Dumas. “Everyone has a turning point in their life, mine was when I finished The Count of Monte Cristo. I read the comic version for the first time when I was 13 and since then, I have always kept a copy of it near me. Even now I have about 15 copies at home,” said Majid. Another turning point in Majid’s life was when he met British author Wilfred Thesiger, popularly known as Mubarak bin London among bedouins. Majid’s wife brought Thesiger to their house when he was visiting the country. “It was in the 80s. I was sleeping at home and he walked into our house. I felt I was dreaming and it took me a while to understand that he was really there. Back then, I did not even dream that I would be making a movie based on his travels,” said Majid. He got candid with Khaleej Times about his passion for cinema, his early inspirations, his chance meeting with Thesiger, the challenges he has had to face as a filmmaker, and his latest movie Bani Adam. He is the first Emirati to have made two full-length feature films, spending millions of dirhams on his movies. “I used to run a successful business making furniture in the 80s. But I was not happy doing that. I understood that my true calling was being a filmmaker,” said Majid. A self-professed loner and traveller, Majid takes time off and travels for over a month while conceptualising a movie. “Pre-production and post-production can be done at leisure, but shooting is when your time is most precious,” he said. The Emirati filmmaker has written, directed, acted in and produced three movies since his first film Eqaab, based on The Count of Monte Cristo, which released in 2006. The bug for a career in the film industry bit him at a very young age. However he forayed into the industry only recently. “Cinema is still young here. I come from a very orthodox family and I still face severe criticism from my family for being a filmmaker. In their eyes, being in this industry equals being an entertainer. My family does watch my movies, but they do not discuss or talk about it, and it is considered a taboo subject,” said Majid. However, he continued to pursue his dreams and went on to fulfill his biggest dream of being a moviemaker. A love triangle Bani Adam will be released in cinemas in the GCC on November 7. The film depicts the realities of life in the Gulf and portrays a dramatic love triangle. Sultan, a rich man, suffers from childhood guilt; Salem is from a low-income family; and Khalil, Sultan’s treasurer, ishes for his daughter Maitha to marry Sultan, who’s in love with Maha. To further complicate matters, Maha and Maitha are both in love with Salem. An interesting plot, Bani Adam promises to be a good watch, according to Majid. “The film has commercial elements and is also an intelligent movie. My only request to local people is that they take time and watch the movie. Only if there is support from the local public will movie makers like me be able to make more movies,” said Majid. Since Eqaab, he has made two other movies — The Arabian Sands, based on Thesiger’s travels across the Empty Quarter; and Bani Adams, which is a tragic love story. Eqaab, according to the director, was an ambitious project. Shot simultaneously in three different languages, it was to have been released in Urdu, Arabic, and Persian. “Finally we released the movie in Arabic and Urdu. I think it was due to lack of good publicity, that the movie did not do well,” he said. Majid believes that there is no dearth of talent in the country; however, there is a shortage of interest amongst local people. “People here still prefer watching Hollywood or Bollywood movies,” he said. “Bollywood movies today are not like how they used to be. I happened to see the new Hindi release Besharam, and I walked out of the theatre after 10 minutes. I grew up watching Hindi movies made in the 40s and 50s. I am still a very big fan of veteran actor Dilip Kumar. At that time, those were the only movies we had access to.” The uniqueness in Majid’s approach to filmmaking is that he understands the artistic value and hard work behind making good cinema. However, he said that pleasing the local audiences remains the biggest challenge for filmmakers because people prefer commercial cinema from Bollywood and Hollywood to cinema by local filmmakers. — dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
World’s First Refinery Turning Farm Waste to Bioethanol Opens
CRESCENTINO, Italy, October 14, 2013 (ENS) – The world’s first commercial-scale refinery to produce bioethanol from agricultural residues and energy crops has opened in northern Italy. When fully implemented, the system will provide 75 million liters of bioethanol annually for the European market. Present at the opening Wednesday were Italy’s Economic Development Minister Flavio Zanonato, local and regional officials and representatives from the European Commission, as well as more than 500 stakeholders from around the world. Beta Renewables new cullulosic ethanol plant in northern Italy (Photo courtesy Novozymes) Situated in fields outside the city of Crescentino, the plant uses wheat straw, rice straw and arundo donax, a high-yielding energy crop grown on marginal land to produce cellulosic ethanol, using enzymes to convert the plant material into fuel. The facility is the result of a collaboration between Beta Renewables, a cellulosic biofuels company based in Tortona, Italy, and Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes, headquartered in Denmark. The two companies formed a strategic partnership in October 2012, making Novozymes the preferred enzyme supplier for Beta Renewables’ current and future cellulosic biofuel projects. “The advanced biofuels market presents transformational economic, environmental and social opportunities, and with the opening, we pave the way for a green revolution in the chemical sector,” said Beta Renewables Chairman and CEO Guido Ghisolfi. “We will continue to commercially expand Beta Renewables’ core technology throughout the world, and we are very confident at this stage given the demand we see around the globe.” “The opening today presents a leap forward and is truly the beginning of a new era for advanced biofuels,” said Novozymes CEO Peder Holk Nielsen. “Here, at this plant, enabled by Novozymes’ enzymatic technology, we will turn agricultural waste into millions of liters of low-emission green fuel, proving that cellulosic ethanol is no longer a distant dream. It is here, it is happening, and it is ready for large-scale commercialization.” Lignin, a polymer extracted from biomass during the ethanol production process, fuels an attached power plant, which generates enough power to meet the facility’s energy needs. Any excess green electricity will be sold to the local grid. Since 2011, more than US$200 million has been invested in research and development of the technology used to produce cellulosic ethanol at the Crescentino facility with financing from the Texas Pacific Group. Beta Rewables new biorefinery uses waste straw to make bioethanol. (Photo courtesy Novozymes) Beta Renewables says its Proesa™ engineering and production technology used with Novozymes’ Cellic® enzymes represent “the most cost-competitive advanced biofuels platform in existence today.” Proesa belongs to the so-called “second-generation” technologies which allow the use of the sugars present in lignocellulosic biomass to obtain fuel and other chemicals with lower greenhouse gas emissions and at competitive costs compared to fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. “Investors interested in cellulosic ethanol often ask when the technology will be ready at commercial scale,” said Ghisolfi. “PROESA enables customers to produce advanced biofuel at a cost-competitive price relative to conventional biofuels – at large-scale and today.” “Our complete offering makes cellulosic biofuel projects bankable and replicable,” Ghisolfi said. “With the world’s first commercial plant up and running here in northern Italy, I very much look forward to an exciting journey of establishing an entirely new, and very promising, industry.” A recent study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance concludes that transforming agricultural residues into advanced biofuels could create millions of jobs worldwide, economic growth, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and energy security by 2030. But before this can occur, Ghisolfi and Nielsen say government support is necessary to accelerate the deployment of next-generation biorefineries. “Policy makers now need to send clear signals to encourage the necessary investments in advanced biofuels,” said Nielsen. “Stable and predictable blending mandates, incentives for the collection of agricultural residues, and investment support for the first large-scale plants will help move the world substantially in terms of reducing greenhouse gases, stimulating economies, and providing energy security. Continued reliance on fossil fuels is not viable.” Italy’s government is hearing this message. Zanonato and Environment Minister Andrea Orlando responded on the facility’s opening day with a decree that promotes the creation of new biorefineries. The decree simplifies the procedures for authorizing biorefineries, with the dual purpose of promoting them in Italy and facilitating investments in the industry. “The use of this type of biofuel,” said Orlando, “is the solution to get to reach the target of 10 percent to 2020 European directive. The government is working to implement the plan, approved in recent months by the CIPE [the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning], the decarbonization of the economy and the reduction of CO2 emissions, encouraging measures to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, low-emission mobility, green chemistry and 2nd generation biofuels.” Continue reading
On Eid, Muslims urged to unite and end bloodshed
On Eid, Muslims urged to unite and end bloodshed (AFP) / 15 October 2013 Top Saudi cleric urges Muslims to avoid divisions, chaos and sectarianism. Around two million Muslim pilgrims thronged Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia on Monday for the high point of the Haj, praying for an end to disputes and bloodshed. Helicopters hovered overhead and thousands of troops stood guard to organise roads flooded with men, women and children. Chanting Labaik Allahum Labaik (I am responding to your call, God), many of them camped in colourful tents and took shelter under trees to escape temperatures of around 40º Celsius. Special sprinklers were set up to help cool the pilgrims. In his annual sermon, top Saudi cleric Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh urged Muslims to avoid divisions, chaos and sectarianism. “Your nation is a trust with you. You must safeguard its security, stability and resources,” said the cleric, who heads Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, in an address to the Muslim world. “You should know that you are targeted by your enemy… who wants to spread chaos among you … It’s time to confront this.” The cleric recalled the Islamic prohibition of killing and aggression, while insisting there is “no salvation or happiness for the Muslim nation without adhering to the teachings of the religion”. “I will pray the whole day to God to improve the situation for Muslims worldwide and an end to disputes and bloodshed in Arab countries,” 61-year-old Algerian pensioner Saeed Dherari said. “I hope that God will grace all Muslims with security and stability,” said 75-year-old Ahmad Khader, who hails from the Syrian province of Daraa. “The regime is tyrannical and I pray to God to help the oppressed people,” he said, referring to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s embattled government. Egyptian Ahmad Ali, who is performing Haj for the first time, prayed for peace after hundreds were killed in recent months in fighting between security forces and Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohammed Mursi. “I pray for Egypt to enjoy security and stability and for the people to reach understanding and reconciliation,” Ali said. Continue reading
