VIDEO - Israeli film director Eran Kolirin's film "The Band's Visit" will participate in the Middle East International Film Festival set to be held in October in Abu Dhabi. The festive event, which will be held under the auspices of the Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayid, was officially launched at the international film festival in Cannes, where the Israeli film was awarded two prestigious prizes and praised by the panel of judges. "The Band's Visit", a film by Eran Kolirin The letter of invitation to Kolirin was signed by Nancy Collette, the program manager of the Abu Dhabi festival. The Abu Dhabi International Film festival, initiated by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH)), will be held at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, one of world's most luxurious hotels. The festival will start on October 14th and last for six days during which 50 drama and documentary films from the Middle East and the world will be screened. Alongside film screenings, the festival will also host an international meeting of film producers focusing on current and future trends in the financing of filmmaking. Invitation of Israeli filmmakers to festivals in the Arab world is still a sensitive matter and is small in scale. Last January, the film by Solo Avital "More than a thousand words," was invited to the film festival in Tehran, which created a storm in the Arab world at the time. "The Band's Visit" production team says the invitation to the Abu Dhabi film festival is a breakthrough. "We hope and believe that thanks to this breakthrough we shall also obtain commercial distribution in other Arab countries," said Ehud Bleiberg and Eilon Ratchkovski, the film's producers. The director himself is excited but not really surprised. "After all there is nothing more natural than this," he told Ynet. "This is about an Arab-speaking film which focuses on the myths and essence related to the region in which we live, and what's more natural than for a film such as this to receive exposure in the Arab world.? At the end of each screening there is always some Egyptian student or a Lebanese tourist who comes over to me and tells me that he or she enjoyed the movie and that it touched their hearts. It's always emotional." "The Band's Visit" tells the story of an encounter between the residents of a remote development town and the members of an Egyptian band who arrived there by mistake. Sasson Gabai warmly and accurately portrays the character of the Egyptian police band's director, who no one greeted upon arrival at the airport. The band was supposed to arrive at Petach Tikva, however due to a mispronunciation they get on a bus that takes them to the remote town of Beit Hatikva. The sleepy residents of the town don't know what to do with the band that landed on their doorstep. What's more, the 10 members have nowhere to spend the night. Actress Ronit Elkabetz portrays a local restaurant owner whom life has left behind. She invites the band's conductor to her home, and arranges accommodation for the other members. The film focuses on the relationship that evolves between the embarrassed Egyptians who don't know what to do with themselves, and the arrogant Israelis who regard them as somewhat bizarre. Gradually, despite differences in language and culture, a relationship develops between the members of the band and their hosts. "The Band's Visit" Kolirin's maiden film, has so far been shown at festivals at Munich where it was awarded the best foreign film and was later shown at festivals in Tokyo and Toronto. At the Volgin international film festival in Jerusalem it was awarded four prizes including best drama. The film, which has been nominated for the Israeli academy film awards in 13 categories, has been sold for distribution throughout 52 countries worldwide.