If there’s one event that I drop everything for in Dubai, it’s the Dubai International Film Festival. The line up is always pretty well compiled and I make sure to watch as many of the movies as I can.

In this year’s DIFF VIP LOUNGE (where the celebrities hang out and pick up gifts), the following brands took part:
-Lululemon: gave celebrities workout options around the city supporting local studios (Eva Longoria took a private Yoga class in her hotel)
-Ayaso Boutique, an Indonesian bisht brand were giving away easy cover ups and kimonos, I snagged a gorgeous polka dot one!
-Rivoli : Rivoli had a section on the balcony where they gifted brands their latest collections from key brands like Roberto Cavalli, Tom Ford and Tod’s.
-Monkey cookies from Kuwait (and now have a space in Mercato Mall) were gifting a delicious box of cookies – my favorite was the Kinder stuffed one, yum!
-Make up For Ever, the official sponsor of the film festival were offering a box which included their brand new 4k Ultra HD foundation – they also had a lounge for the celebrities to get their make up done before heading to the red carpet.
-Eisenberg, a beauty brand from Europe were gifting their luxurious fragrances.
Jewelry brands to wear on the red carpet
-Caliente, a cap brand by an Emirati designer, was gifting their limited edition ‘Dubai Life’,
-Shiseido, a global beauty brand were sorting people out with skincare for the next few months.

In terms of movies, here are a few worth watching (please note I was traveling for work during the week, so I didn’t manage to watch as many movies as I would have liked!)

-Suffragette: A powerful film, featuring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep – this movie really educated me on the violent journey for women in the 1900s for their voting rights. Inspired by Suffrage leader, Emmeline Pankhurst – the movie is definitely worth watching.

-Spotlight: Another favorite, this movie was shown at TIFF and the Venice Film Festival – a strong cast including Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, the movie which is based on true events is about how the Boston Globe investigated and uncovered the scandal of Priests molesting young boys.

Truth: A low budget film by James Vanderbilt (his first directorial movie), but so powerful featuring Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford. The movie is based on a true story from back in 2004, when CBS’s 60 minutes producer Mary Mapes and anchor Dan Rather released a report on George Bush, whilst president and running for his re election showing he skipped his war duty – which ended up causing a huge scandal, and lost their jobs for it.

The Big Short: My week ended with The Big Short, which had an incredible line up of Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell and Christian Bale. The movie was on the credit crisis and the noughties – the movie was based on the famous book. Recommended for anyone with a finance interest.