Oliver Stone Slams Bush at Mideast Premiere

Barbara Surk - Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Filmmaker Oliver Stone slammed President George W. Bush at the Mideast premiere of his movie "W." in Dubai, saying the outgoing U.S. president is a man with "a giant ego" and "boneheaded arrogance."

Stone's bio-pic about the U.S. leader, whose policies fueled resentment toward America in the Middle East kicked off Dubai's fifth International Film Festival on Thursday.

"I hope many people in the Middle East and in South East Asia see it and really understand how George Bush came to be and who he is, and understand the United States is not an enemy," Stone said at a press conference before the red-carpet gala showing of "W." in this glitzy emirate.

The filmmaker, who has won acclaim and controversy for his film treatments of Richard M. Nixon and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, explained to the predominantly Arab audience that he brought Bush's life to the silver screen for personal reasons and not to justify his political decisions.

"I don't feel as an apologist for Bush," Stone said. "I wanted to tell his story from his shoes." When viewers see the film, they will "walk (in) his shoes" and "understand the mindset of 'us vs. them'," Stone said.

"W." depicts Bush's rowdy younger days and his administration's conduct of the Iraq war, one of the main U.S. policies that has hiked anti-U.S. sentiment among many in the Middle East.

"He is not a nice man," Stone also said. "He's a man with a giant ego and boneheaded arrogance. I empathize with him, but I don't sympathize with him."

Social challenges and cultural dilemmas are themes of all 181 films from 66 countries that will be screened at Dubai's week-long festival.

But the city-state has new rivals as the region's movie hotspot. Last month, Qatar teamed up with Robert De Niro and other founders of New York's Tribeca Film Festival to host a similar annual event starting in 2009.

Dubai's neighboring emirate, the oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, also launched its own film festival last year.

"I'd like to think it's not competition, but festivals working together to promote film," said Sheila Whitaker, director of international programming at Dubai International Film Festival.

But, she added: "Dubai is the leader of the pack and we've kept a solid reputation."

Hosting high-profile cultural and sporting events is part of rivalry between wealthy Gulf countries, competing for international attention and outside investment.

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