Q Life Magazine Q Magazine (US) May 2016 | Page 69
Beyond the Museums |
W
orldwide cultures are celebrated in year-
round screenings that range from restored
masterpieces to documentaries ripped from
today’s headlines.
The DFI is also building a dynamic film industry in
Qatar by nurturing regional storytellers whose work
is global in scope. These rising talents develop and
produce original stories for the web, television, radio,
and theaters. They mature alongside the veterans in
DFI’s in-house film production unit who collaborate
with foreign filmmakers.
Acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair saw the value of the
DFI instantly. After partnering on the production of
the political thriller The Reluctant Fundamentalist, she
continued the collaboration by bringing emerging East
African filmmakers to the DFI for intensive training.
The DFI has also co-funded prominent films such as
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, which was produced
by Salma Hayek Pinault and based on the celebrated
poems of Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran.
The annual Ajyal Youth Film
Festival builds on the DFI’s history
of community-based programming.
Ajyal, which means “generations”
in Arabic, invites people to discuss
cinema through interactive events.
A week of workshops, tournaments,
exhibitions, and screenings empower
and inspire the region’s youth.
| Robert De Niro
The world’s gaze fell on Qatar’s
thriving film culture during The
Doha Tribeca Film Festival, a
series of week-long film festivals
organized by DFI and held annually
from 2009 to 2012. Indoor and
outdoor screenings of Arab and
international films, including
multiple world and international
premieres, were held at Katara
Cultural Village in Doha. Attendees
included world-famous actors Kevin
Spacey and Robert De Niro.
| Holly Carter, Jayshree Janu Kharpade, guest and Doha Film Institute Resident Filmmaker and Programmer
Chadi Zeneddin attend the Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet Red Carpet on Day 6 of the second Ajyal Youth Film
Festival on December 6, 2014 in Doha, Qatar. Getty images
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