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Dubai: Movies Part of the Places of a Lifetime series from Traveler magazine

Movies that capture the atmosphere of the city.

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Al Hilm (2005)
Lighthearted comedy-drama Al Hilm (The Dream), the U.A.E.’s first feature film, imaginatively follows an aspiring young filmmaker’s struggles to write a screenplay; set in Dubai’s suburban streets of low-rise white villas and palm trees, and the emirate’s undulating red desert dunes.

Syriana (2005)
Controversial drama set in an “unspecified oil-rich Arab state,” yet for U.A.E. residents, Dubai was as much of a star as George Clooney and Matt Damon; much of the action takes place on Dubai’s streets, construction sites, desert, and deserted highways.

Code 46 (2004)
Science-fictional film starring Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton set in an “unspecified city of the future,” but Dubai locals recognized their futuristic city and its surrounding bleak desert; Emirates Towers and the sleek skyscrapers of Sheikh Zayed Road stole the show.

Dubai (2005)
Almost entirely set in Dubai, this heartfelt melodrama (a hit with the Philippine diaspora) centers on a love triangle among three attractive young Filipino guest workers who move to the cosmopolitan city in search of a better future; postcard images of Dubai’s star sights such as Dubai Creek, desert, beaches, and Burj Al Arab.

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