ZUMEFF awarded the film “Dates” by a ZU student.

The Zayed University Middle East Film Festival (ZUMEFF) is a Middle East wide film festival for students. It shows the best films from universities across the region. ZUMEFF was established in 2010 as a senior project by AlYazyah Al Falasi and Reema Majed, with the goal of showing students’ films and supporting young filmmakers in the region.

 
ZUMEFF 2014 is the 5th edition of the festival. More than 1.000 students attended this year. Nearly 50 films were screened from the 125 submissions we received from 18 different countries.

 
One of the most interesting films in the festival is “Dates” by Fatma Alghanim, a student at Zayed University. Her film won the first place in the category of New York Film Academy / ZUMEFF Aspiring Filmmaker.

 
The film talks about an Emirati mother who left the only hobby she found herself in because of how busy she got with life/marriage and children. The film shows how the mother is passionate about doing everything by herself such as cooking and buying home needs. Her hobby is handicrafts. The film shows her skill of creating dates of ceramic and incenses. It shows also the process of creating them.

 
Fatma Alghanim took the tasks of directing, writing, editing, sounds, and camera. The actors are Um Mansoor, the mother, Ubo Hazem, the owner of a shop buying the materials needed for creating the dates, Sara Alghanim, a daughter of Um Mansoor.

 

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Falconry

Falconry is an essential part of desert life and one of the oldest Emiratis’ traditional sports that has been practiced in the United Arab Emirates for centuries and it is still practiced nowadays.

In the past, falcons were used for hunting and supplying the Bedouin with some meat. Whereas now it is purely practiced as a sport.

Once a falcon is acquired, the falconer trains it. A leather cover is used to protect the falcon’s eyes. In the first few weeks, the falconer remains with the falcon all the time to establish a close relationship with the falcon. The falconer also names the bird and continually calls to it so that it comes to recognize his voice from long distances.

The sport of falconry is highly valued in the UAE and H. H. Sheikh Zayed has shown great concern and support for this important part of the UAE’s cultural. It is one of his favorite activities because it teaches endurance, strength and patience.
Falconry is also the favorite sport of young Emiratis.

Saif Alblooshi, 18-year-old, said that he learned the sport of falconry two years and it became one of his favorite hobbies.

 

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Links

Flickr – Photo Essay

Storify
https://storify.com/shaikhaalb/to-travel-is-to-live

Talli

Some traditions are celebrated openly, such as yola dancing or camel racing. Others continue quietly and without spectacle; talli work is one of them.

Talli is a form of traditional Emirati embroidery. This art of embroidery has been practiced by women in the Emirates for so long, no one can be quite sure when it began. Although, Talli embroidery occurred long time ago but still common, popular and incorporated into the most fashionable designs.

It is used to beautify the collars and cuffs of women’s clothing.

In times before tailors, women needed to learn the skill of talli work to embellish their clothes. Older talli was made of real silver threads or pure gold threads. While nowadays’ talli is mostly made of synthetic materials.

Some traditions are celebrated openly, such as yola dancing or camel racing. Others continue quietly and without spectacle; talli work is one of them.

Talli is a form of traditional Emirati embroidery. This art of embroidery has been practiced by women in the Emirates for so long, no one can be quite sure when it began. Although, Talli embroidery occurred long time ago but still common, popular and incorporated into the most fashionable designs.

It is used to beautify the collars and cuffs of women’s clothing.

In times before tailors, women needed to learn the skill of talli work to embellish their clothes. Older talli was made of real silver threads or pure gold threads. While nowadays’ talli is mostly made of synthetic materials.

Ateeja Ali Al Muhairbi produces talli work, skilfully placing the spools of thread to create intricate designs for the collars and cuffs of dresses and other items of clothing.

The skill has even inspired poetry. One well-known Arabic verse runs:

“The one wearing the talli has captivated my heart,

With her long black hair flowing in the wind”.
 

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Mid-term

1. What is disaggregation of the audience?
Disaggregation of the audience is having different audiences’ segments.

2. Why has journalism’s credibility declined since the 1990s?
The journalism’s credibility declined because of the rise of inaccurate sources.

3. How do journalists use the Internet?
journalists use the weblogs to interact with their audiences.

4. What is transparency as it relates to the profession of journalism, as a way of rebuilding trust with readers?
Journalist can build trust by being unbiased as well as being trustworthy, reliable and accurate.

5. When anthropologists observed primitive cultures, how did such cultures define news and what qualities did they look for in messengers?
In my opinion, most cultures and people share the same definition of what does news mean and they often have same messengers’ qualities.

6. Though you may not subscribe to a newspaper or consistently watch the news on television, do you feel generally aware of what’s going on beyond your direct experience? Are you the first or the last to know important things? Do you have “a hunger for awareness”? When meeting a friend, do you share information, such as “have you heard about…?”
I personally think that nowadays we feel aware of what’s going on without watching the news, and that’s because of our smart phones. Friends and family members send and share the updates through social networks which makes us updated especially in terms of things that are happening locally.

7. Why do we need “the news”? To “protect ourselves, bond with each other, identify friends and enemies,” the authors write. They quote author Thomas Cahill, who said you can tell “the worldview of a people…the invisible fears and desires…in a culture’s stories.” Why do you need “the news,” if you do? What stories do you tell yourselves?
In my opinion, news are important because we need to be aware of what’s going on, what’s new and what are the updates so that we keep up.

8. What are the 10 elements of journalism?
– Journalism’s first obligation is to tell the truth.
– Its first loyalty is to citizen.
– Its essence is a discipline of verification.
– Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
– It must serve as an independence monitor of power.
– It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
– It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
– It must keep the news comprehensive and in proportion.
– Its practitioners have an obligation to exercise their personal conscience.
– Citizen, too, have the rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news.

9. Without independently-reported news, what will replace it? a) rumor; b) self-interested commercialism or infotainment, according to the authors. Can you think of examples of this in your own life?
I personally think that independently news can be replaced by rumors.Because rumors spread really fast and reach a lot of people.

Monica Seles, the world’s No. 1 tennis player visits Zayed University

Monica Seles came to Abu Dhabi and had a speech at Zayed University on March 6, 2014. She visited ZU as part of Mubadala’s Inspirational Women 2014 project to support healthy and active lifestyles.

She encouraged ZU student to be healthy and have active lifestyles, and she told them about her personal and vocation life.

Monica Seles was born on December 2, 1973, in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, to Hungarian parents. Her father taught her to play tennis in a parking lot when she was 5 years old. When she grew up, she became intent on beating her brother, who was No. 1 ranked junior tennis player in the country at the time. Her mother and her grandmother thought that girls shouldn’t spend so much time playing tennis.

She was only girl playing sports at school and the world’s youngest Yugoslavian tennis player. She was encouraged by her father and brother but her mother had the idea that tennis is not suitable for girls. “Thanks to my dad because he encouraged me,” said Ms. Seles

By the age of 13, Monica Seles started the career of playing tennis and she was the No. 1 junior tennis player in the world. At 16, she became the youngest person to win the French Open. At age 17, she was the youngest player at the time to ever rank No. 1 in the world.

Monica Seles was attacked in a match in 1993, a man stabbed her back with a knife.
After the attack she kept playing and teaching at tennis health centers. But after the deaths of her father and coach, she decided to retire.

 

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My Vacation

In every vacation I either travel or spend the whole vacation in Ras Al-Khaimah with my family. However, in the last vacation I stayed in Ras Alkhaimah.

My cousins and I spent the vacation in RAK, doing nothing other than sleeping, setting together and eating. At the end of the vacation we realized that our vacation will pass without doing something interesting. We decided to go to Dubai and spend the last two days of the vacation there.

In the first day, we went to the Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence, which is a promenade that hosts a variety of shops, restaurants and cafes. We spent really good time walking around and shopping.

In the second and last day of the vacation, we went to Dubai Mall and we saw to movies consecutively; Non Stop and Divergent, and both of them are great movies.

UAE Feature Story: Qasr al Hosn Festival

Qasr al Hosn Festival is a celebration of over 250 years of Qasr al Hosn’s history. It is a golden opportunity for the United Arab Emirates’ citizens, residents and tourists to watch and experience the heritage and culture of the country.

Visitors will view the UAE’s history through variety of interactive activities, including a world-class show reflecting themes inspired by the UAE’s history, interactive heritage and art workshops, celebrations highlighting Emirati skills and traditions, and historical tours and exhibitions.

The main attraction of the festival is the Cavalia at Qasr Al Hosn show; the theatrical equestrian production, featuring more than 40 highly-trained horses performing along with performers and musicians.

The festival will be divided into four main areas; Abu Dhabi Island and Fort area, Desert, Marine and Oasis.

The Abu Dhabi Island and Fort area that enable children and adults to discover different elements of the history including imitations of traditional Emirati schools and ‘Beit Al Zehba’ which is Bedouin wedding houses.

The Desert area will show visitors the Bedouin life by preforming the traditional Youla dance and teaching the visitors about the UAE’s rich Eco diversity and the efforts to preserve the endangered houbara birds.

The Marine section will emphasize the performs of fishing and pearl-diving, which were previously the main source of livelihood for Emiratis.

Finally, the Oasis will focus on the UAE’s natural life where guests will learn about the different medical uses of herbs and deserts plants.

 

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ZU Feature Story: Working as a florist at Zayed University

Marlyn Belila works at the flower shop in the ZU-AD Promenade. (Photo by Shaikha Alblooshi)

 

ABU DHABI—A florist carried by an unexpected destiny is rebuilding her life by working at Zayed University.

Marlyn Belila, 45, a Filipina widow with two children back home, is struggling to survive, but she is finding a way. She is currently working at Al Bustan Flower Shop in the Promenade of Zayed University’s Abu Dhabi campus.

A few years back, Mrs. Belila migrated to Europe after the death of her husband to earn money and survive. She worked in Germany as a sales person and met an Emirati man who gave her his number and invited her to work in the United Arab Emirates.

After several years, she decided to go back to her country to stay with her children. She used her study of flowers to start her own flower business in the Philippines. But unfortunately her business in the Philippines did not succeed.

She called the Emirati man who invited her to work in the United Arab Emirates. And he welcomed her to work at his home, as a baby sitter.

After a year, she found a better job opportunity related to what she studied. Mrs. Belila worked as a florist in Al Ain for seven years. Then she moved to another flower shop in Dubai for two years.

“Working in the UAE helped me a lot. With the money I got from the UAE, I built a house in the Philippines and my children completed their studies,” Belila said.

She is currently working at ZU’s flower shop.
“Working at ZU is nice because I’m dealing with friendly girls,” Belila said.

Mrs. Belila is a smiley and patient person.
“I use patience with life to make it easier. Smile and you will be happy,” Belila said.
She said that she is different than any other florist because she has a flower designing certificate and experience of 10 years in flower shops.

Mrs. Belila is happy with her life now. One of her children is working, and the other is studying at university. Although she is away from them, she is pleased with her destiny.

 

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The lunch of a trial phase of child protection app linked to Abu Dhabi Police.

The Himayati (my protection) is an app linked to Abu Dhabi Police, that allows parents to receive alerts from their children if they are in danger.

It can be downloaded for free, can only be activated by parents, and the estimated response time of the police is four minutes.

It is available now for Android phones, and will also be released for the Apple, Blackberry and Windows operating systems.

Major General Nasser Al Nuaimi, secretary general at the Office of the Interior Ministry, said that parents can request an immediate police help when receiving an alert using the app by pressing a button on their phones.

It is expected that other police offices in the UAE will eventually be linked to the system.

The app has many other features such as location sending and allowing parents to set their children’s expected arrival and departure times from schools. The application benefits authorities also by helping them to respond faster to emergencies.