"A jet-lagged Harvey Weinstein lecturing at an Arab film festival: what could go wrong with that?" This is one of many loaded questions posed by Jeff Beresford-Howe in his highly entertaining Film Threat diary of the first-ever Middle East International Film Festival, held recently in opulent Abu Dhabi. A mere four months in the making, the festival was sponsored by emirs rich on petrodollars and tourist dirhams, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty that could go awry, as evidenced by the first night of the festival, where Beresford-Howe logs the reaction of a group of Arab women in the audience of Atonement to a scene involving the frequent use of a rather crude term for the female genitalia. The author also offers this not unexpected bit of advice: "If you ever want to see the full range of Homeland Security tricks and treats, book a same-day international flight to an Arab country and have your ticket paid for by a third party with a Middle Eastern address." — Leonard Pierce