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6 Doha Film Institute backed films to screen in Toronto

DOHA, September 2, 2014

Six films made with support from the Doha Film Institute are set to screen at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, which commences on September 4.

Three films will make their world premiere and it includes Naji Abu Nowar’s ‘Theeb’ and Ghassan Salhab’s ‘The Valley,’ both of which are recipients of funding from the institute’s Grants Programme; grant recipient ‘Timbuktu’ by Abderrahmane Sissako and co-financed project ‘The Narrow Frame of Midnight’ by Tala Hadi.

A short film directed by Shahad Ameen, ‘Eye & Mermaid’ was made through the institute’s Hazawi Short Film Production Fund, said a statement.

‘Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet,’ also co-financed by the institute, will have its world premiere as a TIFF Special Presentation following its work-in-progress preview screening at the Cannes Film Festival.

The adaptation of the beloved classic features the work of eight renowned animators, among them Gulf talent Mohammed Saeed Harib (creator of the acclaimed animated series ‘Freej’), who directs the chapter ‘On Good and Evil’.

Fatma Al-Remaihi, acting CEO of Doha Film Institute, said: “I congratulate all the filmmakers supported by the Doha Film Institute whose works have been selected to screen at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. We are honoured to have played a part in bringing these wonderful projects to life and wish the filmmakers all the best on their festival journeys.

“TIFF has a notable history of excellent programming of films from the Arab world and this year’s selection is no exception. I am delighted to see these projects among the strong representation of voices from our region.”

Also making its world premiere in TIFF’s Discovery section is ‘The Narrow Frame of Midnight,’  which is a feature-length fiction film by acclaimed Moroccan-Iraqi filmmaker and visual artist Hadid.

Against the backdrop of the Atlas Mountains, in a country torn apart by injustice, the film paints a story of interconnected destiny, redemption and hope as three people struggle to define their futures in a cruel and uncertain world.

Abu Nowar’s ‘Theeb’ will also screen in the Discovery section after its world premiere in the Orizzonti Competition at the Venice Film Festival.

Based in the Arabian Peninsula in 1916, ‘Theeb’ blends coming-of-age drama with frontier Western, telling the story of a boy’s perilous desert adventures when his nomadic tribe is confronted with the modern world in a forgotten corner of the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

‘The Valley,’ which makes its world premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema selection, is the fifth feature film by Lebanese director Salhab, whose acclaimed previous film ‘The Mountain’ screened at TIFF in 2011.

A sense of impending catastrophe pervades ‘The Valley’ after a car crashes in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and the driver, stricken with amnesia, meets a group of people on the road and is taken to their farm – perhaps never to leave again.

Sissako’s ‘Timbuktu’ will screen in the Masters section, marking its North American premiere after it garnered widespread critical acclaim at its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Set in the aftermath of the jihadist takeover of northern Mali, the exceedingly skilful auteur’s film is a poetic excoriation of the horrors of war that lays bare the blindly destructive force of extremism.

The newly minted Short Cuts International programme includes ‘Eye & Mermaid,’ by Saudi Arabian director Shahad Ameen.

The haunting, brutally metaphorical tale of a young girl’s discovery of the dreadful secret behind the beautiful black pearls her father harvests shows that the lovely things in life sometimes come at a hefty price. - TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Doha | festival | institute | film |

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