'Delusion' steals the show as EU film festival closes

'Delusion', directed by Issa al Subhi, won Best Film in the short film competition as the third European Union Film Festival concluded on Sunday at Cinépolis, Oman Avenues Mall.
Forbidden Flowers, written and directed by Dalila al Dari, won Best Director, while Higuita, directed by Nilanjana, took Best Storyline. The Audience Award, voted for by festival viewers, went to The Search, directed by Anirban Ray.
Students were also honoured in a 48-hour challenge, with awards presented by the General Manager of Nikon. Nazar of the National University took first place with Fathers Luban, followed by Mahmoud al Balushi of the University of Technology and Applied Sciences with A Different Eye, and Younus al Ghafri of the National University with A Simple Gesture.
In the short film competition, the Best Film, Best Director and Best Storyline winners each received RO 500. The evening ended with a screening of winning films.
Introduced for the first time this year, the competition gave filmmakers in Oman a platform to share their work with a wider audience. The finalists' films were screened for the public from October 12 to 14, allowing viewers to watch local stories on the big screen alongside European cinema.
The closing ceremony was attended by ambassadors of European Union member states and representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and the Oman Film Society. It included a welcome address on behalf of the EU embassies and a speech from the ministry, alongside the presentation of awards.

Laura al Siyabi, Head of the Cinema Section at the Theatre and Cinema Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, said it was a pleasure to be part of 'this celebration of cinema and the stories that bring us closer together'.
Supporting cultural initiatives such as the festival matters, she said. 'The Ministry believes in the power of culture to create connections, inspire creativity, and build bridges between people and nations'.
She thanked the European Union and all those who made the festival possible, adding: 'May the stories we share through cinema continue to bring us closer, even when our worlds are different'.
Organised by the European Union Delegation and the embassies of EU member states in Muscat, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, the Oman Film Society and the International Film Foundation of Oman, the week-long festival opened on October 11 with A Whole Life, an Austrian film based on the novel by Robert Seethaler.
Over eight days, it brought films from Austria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain to Muscat audiences, with Arabic and English subtitles accompanying the screenings.
More than a showcase of films, the festival offered a meeting point for filmmakers, diplomats, students, media professionals and cinema enthusiasts, strengthening cultural ties between Oman and Europe.