ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - A movie about an Iraqi boy set in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's fall heads the line-up at Abu Dhabi's Middle East International Film Festival, which opens on Thursday.

Following the trek of Ahmed and his grandmother across the devastated country to find his missing father, the "Son of Babylon" film has been pitched as a search for justice and closure in the new Iraq.

"This is different than the Iraq you see on the news. It's a human Iraq," says Mohammed al-Darraji, the Baghdad-born director of the film which will feature as a world premiere in Abu Dhabi.

The festival kicks off at the luxurious Emirates Palace Hotel on Thursday with organisers seeking to use such productions to put the focus back on the Middle East.

"What is new in this session is that we are more closer to the meaning of the name of the festival, i.e. that it is a festival for the Middle East, and an international festival as well," said festival director Peter Scarlet.

Scarlet said half of the films in competition for one million dollars in prize money are works by Middle Eastern directors.

In its third year, the festival has introduced awards for best feature film from the Middle East and best new director.

It also has two other prizes for the best documentary from the region and best new director of documentaries.

The festival opens with the movie "The Traveller", directed by Egyptian director Ahmed Maher and starring Omar Sharif, Khalid Abdel Nabi and Cyrine Abdelnour, after it had been shown at the Venice Film Festival last month.

"Most of the stars of this film will be present," Scarlet said.

Besides the "Sons of Babylon," other major feature films vying for the Black Pearl Awards include "No one Knows About Persian Cats" by Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi.

The feature film competition includes 17 movies.

Most of the films that will be included in the feature-length documentaries will be the first such time they are screened either in the Middle East or globally.

The festival will have a global programme, including films from India, Japan, France, Britain and others. It also features a programme dedicated to modern Turkish cinema.

Scarlet said the festival reflects the demographics of the city of Abu Dhabi, home to a majority of foreigners, and its diversity.

"Ticket sales have risen substantially this year," he said.

"The cinemas here only show films from Hollywood and Bollywood so the festival provides the people of this city with a different cinema."

The festival debuted in 2007, three years after the inaugural Dubai International Film Festival, which has since gone on to become an international event.

But a new player entered the scene this year as Doha launched the "Tribeca Film Festival" for the first time.

Abu Dhabi and Doha are competing for leadership in the field of culture in the Gulf and spend billions of dollars building museums, universities and cultural monuments.

The main jury will be chaired by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, while James Longley will head the committee of feature-length documentaries.

Yousri Nasrallah will head the jury for short films.