Hollywood, Bollywood and Arab stars open Dubai film fest

The Dubai International Film Festival kicked off its fifth addition on Thursday with stars from Hollywood, Bolywood and the world of Arab cinema.

The eight-day-long festival, which will feature 182 films from 66 countries, was launched with the screening of "W." This latest movie by director Oliver Stone, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, chronicles the rise to power of outgoing US President George W. Bush.

Hundreds of cameras flashed at the luxury beachside resort Madinat Jumeirah, as Oliver Stone and Goldie Hawn and Ben Affleck appeared on the red carpet. Oscar winner Nicolas Cage, Salma Hayek, Oscar nominee Laura Linney, Casey Affleck, Brendan Fraser and Danny Glover top a long list of celebrities expected to attend the festival.

They are expected to be joined by Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan and Nandita Das, as well as Egyptian stars Adel Imam and Hesham Selim.

Other highly anticipated films are Baz Luhrman's "Australia", starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, and Steven Soderbergh's "Che," a film that narrates the life of Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto Guevara.

After launching the Muhr Award for Excellence in Arab Cinema in 2006, organisers this year included African and Asian movies to the awards, with prizes reaching 500,000 dollars.

On Friday Linney, Hawn and Hayek will attend a fundraiser on behalf of the charity organisation amFAR to raise money for the American Foundation for Aids Research.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara movie wins praise in Cuba

Cubans have applauded an American director's new movie on Ernesto "Che" Guevara for its accurate portrayal of his role in Cuba's revolution.

They packed into two cinemas over the weekend to see "Che," a four-hour epic directed by Steven Soderbergh, during Havana's annual Latin American film festival.

Benicio Del Toro, who plays the Argentine-born revolutionary, was joined at the screening by Leonardo Tamayo. He fought with Guevara in Bolivia, where Che was captured and executed in 1967.

The film covers two parts of Guevara's life -- his role in the 1959 revolution in Cuba with Fidel Castro, and his struggle and death in Bolivia.

"It's great. It really reflects the life of Che and his fight in Bolivia and how he was assassinated," said Eugenio Martinez, a retiree at one screening. "It's satisfying to see that his fight was not in vain."

Havana festival organizers had said in July that "Che" would not be shown if it attacked Fidel Castro, the ailing 82-year-old who led Cuba for 49 years after taking power in the 1959 revolution.

Cuba said the film was shot in Spain and Bolivia because the U.S. government, which has a four-decade trade embargo against communist-run Cuba, barred Soderbergh from making the movie on the island.

The film appeared in Cuba as President-elect Barack Obama is raising expectations he will ease restrictions on the island, a move the Cuban government says would be a positive first step to ending the dispute over the Florida Straits.

Granma, the newspaper of Cuba's ruling Communist Party, praised Del Toro but said Fidel Castro's character lacked charisma and depth.

Soderbergh, who won the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or for best film in 1989 with "Sex, Lies and Videotape," said he was fascinated by Guevara, who has become a symbol of rebellion the world over.