ABU DHABI: “I am your father…” — an iconic line delivered by one of the most memorable villains in movie history.
For movie geeks, the chance to meet Darth Vader, the seminal villain of the Star Wars franchise, is a dream come true — and the Middle East Film and Comic Con (MEFCC) is thrilled to make this a reality as Hayden Christensen will be joining the star(wars)-studded panel happening from March 3 to 5 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Hayden Christensen is a Canadian actor and producer who made his acting debut when he was 12 — appearing in supporting roles on television series such as Family Passions, Harrison Bergeron, In The Mouth Of Madness, Goosebumps, Forever Knight, Are You Afraid Of The Dark, The Virgin Suicides and Higher Ground, which received critical acclaim and garnered the young actor praise for his skills.
He continued with the show Life as a House in 2001, for which he received the Breakthrough Performance of the Year award by the National Board of Review. In 2002, he starred in This Is Youth, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in Shattered Glass in 2003. He also made his Broadway debut in 2005.
However, Hayden skyrocketed to fame when he was cast as the adult Anakin Skywalker, who would later on become the Star Wars franchise’s Big Bad Darth Vader, in the Prequel Trilogy from 2002 to 2005. He was selected by George Lucas and bested 1,500 applicants for the role — talk about hand-picked!
Now it’s time to bring out the Vader merch for autographs and get those phones ready for the ’gram as he joins MEFCC’s A-list meet & greet sessions!
MEFCC is also welcoming another out of this world addition to its celebrity line-up — Anthony Daniels, the English actor who is best known for bringing to life Star Wars’ neurotic golden droid, C3PO.
This Briton is the only actor who has appeared across all 9 of the Star Wars films, and has also played a part in many of the franchises’ spin-offs — he has recently reprised his role alongside Ewan Macgregor in Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi, voiced his animated figure as the pilot in Disney’s ride, Star Tours — The Adventures Continue, became a breakfast cereal, Kellogg’s C-3POs, and had his own cartoon series, Droids. The Clone Wars, LEGO-The Yoda Chronicles, Droid Tales and Rebels are some of the other animated series he has voiced, as well as the WAZE and TomTom GPS satnav devices.
If you think all the fun is happening indoors, think again! The LikeCard Festival Stage is the happening place for people to get their geek on in front of a cheering crowd.
See your favourite characters come to life at the Cosplay Competition: Powered by TOD and the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) Preliminaries. The winners of the latter will be representing the UAE in the WCS Finals happening in Nagoya, Japan.
Dance enthusiasts will get their fill of high-octane performances as renowned dance group from the Philippines, G-Force headed by artistic director Teacher Georcelle, is set to get your rhythm in step-by-step live dance classes happening nightly on-stage. On the other hand, K-pop stans can look forward to dance shows by PRISM. And if you want to show off your dance skills, flex your Just Dance skills for the chance to win a Nintendo Switch.
Gamers can catch some exhilarating matches from top players in the PUBG Mobile, COD Mobile and Stumble Guys Mobile Tournaments by LikeCard.
Meanwhile, anime fans will love the One Piece, Naruto and Demon Slayer performances as well as violinist TRIC performing renditions of anime and video game music.
Kids also have the chance to impress audiences as the young, adorable and super talented kids of the Mawhibaty Programme share their creative talents while foodies with an iron stomach can test their limits with Sarya’s Ultimate Spicy Noodle Challenge.
The fun doesn’t end during the day as you can get lit for the night and rock out with Ashen Runway and the Boxtones when they hit the stage and enjoy pop culture raves with DJ Abood and DJ Trina.
For Star Wars fans, the MEFCC is the definitive fan event of the year! VIP tickets are now sold out but it’s not too late to join this amazing event. Individual passes can still be purchased at AED 135 for single-day and AED 299 for three-day access. Perks include meeting your favourite celebrities at Meet the Stars, exploring the Artist Alley, watching live stage performances at the Festival Plaza and access to the workshops at the Creative Academy.
