The Documentary In Search of Oil and Sand Receives Warm Welcome by the audience following Its Screening at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai

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An Open Discussion between the Audience and the Film's Lead Narrator through a Google+ Hangout

The Documentary In Search of Oil and Sand Receives Warm Welcome by the audience following Its Screening at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai


The feature-length documentary In Search of Oil & Sand was well-received by the audience in Dubai after its screening as part of the cinematic activities of the UAE's Arts District Alserkal Avenue.

Concurrently with the film screening, an open discussion was conducted through Google+ Hangout between the Mahmoud Sabit, the film's Executive Producer and lead narrator, who keenly received the audience's comments and answered their questions.

In Search of Oil and Sand tracks the Egyptian historian Mahmoud Sabit who inherited a palace that dates back to the royal family, as he unveils the story behind 'Oil and Sand', an 8 mm film shot by his parents and members of the royal court only a few weeks before the royal Egyptian family was overthrown in a coup d'état in 1952.

Sabit assembles the last surviving copy of the film, reconstructing the story behind it, members of the royal family who appeared there, and the political circumstances surrounding the film.
In Search of Oil and Sand is co-directed by Wael Omar and Philippe L. Dib who have won the Best Director Award at the Documentary Competition within the 6th Abu Dhabi Film Festival in 2012.

In Search of Oil and Sand participated in several festivals and film events including; the Long Documentary Films Section at Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts, Festival Cinéma Arabe in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the Cinema African Film Festival in Sweden, the Twin Cities Arab Festival in the US state of Minnesota, International Festival of Mediterranean Film Tetouan in Morocco and Arabian Film Days Festival in Norway.

Alserkal Avenue Arts District is an artistic and a cultural centre in Dubai, UAE that organizes a many art galleries that boast paintings and photographs by artists from all over the world. Besides, it organizes events for movies screening as well as music concerts and dance performances while stressing that these events should be representing worldwide nationalities and cultures.