Kermit makes rainbow connection

Alex Ritman

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DUBAI // There has been no shortage of screaming at the Dubai International Film Festival, mainly for Tom Cruise and Shahrukh Khan, but yesterday the noise was for celebrities of a more furry variety.

The Muppets Movie, the first outing for the late Jim Henson's much-loved puppet creations in 12 years, was given a special gala screening that saw hundreds of excited children, and a fair few equally excited adults, flock to Madinat Jumeirah.

Unfortunately, the stars of the film, which sees the Muppets regroup for a big show after going their separate ways, could not make it to the red carpet.

"I think they sadly have other duties elsewhere in the world," said the director James Bobin. "I believe they may be in South America."

Despite not being there, the most famous Muppet of all did make time to record a special welcome message for the local audience.

"Shukran, Dubai!" bellowed Kermit the Frog from the main screen. "We're are really excited to be here at the 8th annual Dubai International Film Festival."

For Bobin, one of the most joyous parts of making the film was that he could introduce the Muppets to his four-year-old daughter. "To me they've always been around but it just felt weird that she didn't know who they were, so I'm delighted to have made a film that she can watch with me," he said.

Masoud Al Ali, the festival's artistic director, also remembers the Muppets as part of his youth.

"We grew up with them, but especially on our side we grew up with Kamel, who was the Arabic version of Kermit," Mr Al Ali said. "It lives in everybody's memory."

Opinions over favourite characters were divided mainly between the two biggest names, Kermit and Miss Piggy.

For Mr Al Ali and for Bobin it was Kermit. But the director understood why many went for the blonde-haired diva.

"She's got a very forceful personality and I think girls in particular prefer her because she sticks up for herself," said Bobin. "She has great belief in her own talent, even though she's not that good."

Bobin was also behind the camera for the TV shows Flight of the Conchords and Ali G.

The festival's Cinema for Children section continues today, with screenings of Arthur Christmas and the German offering Wickie and the Treasure of the Gods.

aritman@thenational.ae

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Andal Ampatuan makes first court appearance on massacre charges

Agence France-Presse

MANILA // The head of a powerful Philippine clan pleaded not guilty yesterday to murdering 57 enemies and journalists.

In his first court appearance on charges of masterminding the country's worst political massacre, the 70-year-old Andal Ampatuan Snr faced more than two dozen relatives of the victims in the heavily guarded courtroom.

He nodded when asked if he understood the charges read out to him, as the judge, Jocelyn Reyes, ordered the trial to proceed after denying Mr Ampatuan's last-minute appeal to delay proceedings.

"Not guilty", Mr Ampatuan muttered to jeers from emotional family members of the victims who had packed the small room.

The Muslim clan patriarch, his son and namesake Andal Ampatuan Jnr and four relatives are among more than 80 people arrested and charged with murder over the November 2009 massacre of 57 people, 32 of whom were journalists.

After the trial got under way, police announced that two more suspects, an ex-policeman and an armed Ampatuan follower, had been arrested in the southern province of Maguindanao, where the killings took place.

More than a hundred other suspects, including Ampatuan relatives and members of a government-armed militia that worked under the family's direct command, remain at large.

The court has yet to read the charges against 21 of those in custody, and legal experts had earlier warned that the trial would stretch for years in the notoriously slow Philippine justice system.

The victims and some of their vehicles were found buried in mass graves in a deserted farm on a hillock, near an excavator, which bore the Ampatuan patriarch's name.

A witness earlier said that the Ampatuans had planned the killings six days beforehand, with the patriarch telling the group to make sure the murders were carried out carefully. The Ampatuans, who had ruled Maguindanao for a decade, are alleged to have ordered the murders to stop a rival from challenging Mr Ampatuan Jnr for the post of Maguindanao governor in last year's elections.

On Wednesday, relatives of the victims crowded into the courthouse, built in a suburban Manila jail compound specifically for the trial,- and cried and shouted as Mr Ampatuan Snr was ushered into the courtroom in handcuffs.

Juliet Evardo, 50, mother of one of the murdered journalists, cried during a break in the hearing as she recounted how she felt when she saw Mr Ampatuan Snr.

"How can he plead not guilty when the backhoe [excavator] bore his name?" Ms Evardo said.

Ms Evardo's 24-year-old son, Julito, was a television editor who defied her appeals not to join supporters and relatives of a rival candidate on their ill-fated convoy to submit candidacy papers to the local election watchdog.

Esmael Mangudadatu, the rival Maguindanao politician who was elected governor after the massacre, expressed satisfaction that his wife, sister and other relatives, who were among the victims, would finally get justice.

The Ampatuans had ruled Maguindanao under the patronage of former president Gloria Arroyo, who rights monitors said had allowed the clan to keep a large private army as a proxy force against Muslim rebels.

Mr Mangudadatu, meanwhile, said members of the Ampatuan private army were among the suspects still at large. They were continuing to harass witnesses, he said, including one man who was shot and a woman they allegedly raped.

Mr Mangudadatu said these witnesses "are now out of danger and will continue to testify" and added that "this illustrates the lingering power of the clan".

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