UAE. Music, earthquakes, urban change and socio-political tensions are among the diverse topics for documentaries that have been selected in the Muhr AsiaAfrica documentary competition at DIFF 2009.

DIFF AsiaAfrica Director Nashen Moodley said interest in documentaries remains timeless as film-makers search for political truth, call for social change or simply look to capture the colour and resilience of the human spirit.

“This year, the AsiaAfrica programming team has picked 12 riveting films which speak volumes about the cultures in which they are filmed, as well as the film-makers who shot them.”

Director Jean Marie Teno’s Sacred Games from Cameroon is a lively journey through contemporary African culture, told through engaging characters in the city of Ougadougou, Burkina Faso.

Mere Bi, directed by Ousmane William Mbaye, portrays a fascinating profile of Annette Mbaye d’Erneville, Senegal’s first female journalist. The 82 year-old, an active pioneer and campaigner for gender equality since the earliest days of the Senegalese women’s rights movement, is regarded today as a modern-day icon and role model.

Via a mixture of characters and cityscapes, Sepideh Farsi’s covertly filmed Tehran Without Permission offers a view of the Middle East’s largest city like no other – shot entirely on a cellphone. City life also forms the subject for Faces of Seoul, as Gina Kim takes a nostalgic tour of her childhood while placing her memories in the context of the vibrant, present-day metropolis.

Once Upon A Time A Proletarian, directed by Xialuo Guo, gives a revealing portrait of contemporary China, exploring facets of socio-political life within a context of globalisation and individualisation.

Another absorbing Chinese entry, 1428, records the Great Sichuan Earthquake that took place at 14:28 on May 12 last year around the city of Beichuan. Ten days later, film-maker Du Haibin arrived at the scene to record the aftermath and his camera tracks the ghoulish carnival of activity that surrounded the disaster site.

With Malaysian Gods, film-maker Amir Muhammad looks back on the last decade, following the sacking of Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, when the country witnessed widespread protest, and asks how much has changed.

The harsh realities of rural life in Korea, as seen through the eyes of three displaced urban women, form the centerpiece of Earth’s Women, directed by Woo-jung Kwon.

More Asian film-making talent is on show in A Normal Life, Please from Japan. The subject is an overworked truck driver who is menaced by a gang hired by his employers after he joins a workers’ union. The documentary is directed by Tokachi Tsuchiya.

An injured buffalo causing mayhem in a small village in post-Soviet Armenia is the unlikely opening scene to Border by Harutyun Khachatryan. It is the story of a village near the conflict zone, where refugees work the land.

Hitting the musical note is Lloyd Ross’s The Silver Fez, a musical documentary charting the much-revered prize for the Cape Malay choirs in Cape Town. Two choirmasters assemble their troops and prepare for a musical war in which treachery and pain are endured in the hope of glory.

More musical overtones are provided in the Indian entry, The Other Song, in which director Saba Dewan presents a compelling journey through Varanasi, tracing the half-forgotten world of a glorious tradition of singing.

Now in its sixth year, DIFF 2009 is held in association with Dubai Studio City and will be held from 9-16 December. Dubai Duty Free, Dubai Pearl, Emirates Airline and Madinat Jumeirah are the principal sponsors of DIFF and the event is supported by Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture).

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