The Gulf has produced few films of world repute and cinemas are banned in the conservative Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia, cutting filmmakers off from their biggest audience. Problems are compounded by the censorship of movies in the Gulf.
Organizers say festival films will not be cut.
"We are not cutting any movies," said Ruwaini. "You can't ask a filmmaker to your festival and say ... 'participate with your movie but five of your most important scenes are out.'"
Several films dealing with sensitive issues will be shown. They include Egyptian documentary Salata Baladi, or Local Salad, which looks at the issue of inter-religious marriage and is partly shot in Israel.
Also showing is Brian De Palma's Redacted, which recreates the real-life rape and murder of a teenage Iraqi girl by US troops, and shocked audiences at the Venice festival last month.
The festival will show a range of Hollywood, Bollywood and Arab films, and the Black Pearl Awards will go to fiction, documentary and short films selected by a jury.
The festival will showcase Arab film in its Middle East Spotlight section, and includes a section dedicated to Arab female directors. Also on is a retrospective of Gulf films including the region's first feature film, The Cruel Sea by Kuwaiti Director Khalid al-Siddiq, made in 1972.
To support homegrown talent, the Abu Dhabi Media Company will sponsor a cash prize for Emirati filmmakers. The festival will give the first ever screening for a UAE feature film; Jumaa and the Sea by Hany al-Shaibany.
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