Katara president Abdulrahman al-Khulaifi flanked by diplomats at the launch event of the Latin American Cultural Festival yesterday
By Bonnie James/Deputy News Editor

Katara, the Cultural Village of Doha, will make the Latin American Cultural Festival (LACF) an annual event, president Abdulrahman al-Khulaifi said yesterday.
The inaugural LACF is beginning on Thursday (Oct 6). The 10-day event, being organised in association with embassies of nine Latin American countries, will feature the best of music, dance and film.
“At Katara, we focus on continuity and building further,” the official told Gulf Times at an event to officially announce the start of the festival.
Observing that the Middle East and Latin America share a deep cultural wealth that is inherent to each region, al-Khulaifi said Katara is dedicated to creating platforms that share this wealth and bridges cultural gaps. Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela are the participating countries.
LACF brings together over 230 artistes and performers with the embassies playing a key role in nominating the participants and films.
Ambassadors Victor Manuel Lagos Pizzati (El Salvador), Javier Escalante-Madrigal (Costa Rica), Armando Vergara Bueno (Cuba), Jose Luis Remedi (Uruguay), Anuar Nahes (Brazil), Hugo Guiliani (Dominican Republic), deputy chief of mission Cesar Aristegui (Peru) and charge d’affaires Fernando Cemtemo (Venezuela) were among the diplomats present at the launch event.
There will be a total of 15 performances and eight film screenings during the festival, highlighting Latin America’s history and art through an array of traditional, folkloric and modern art expressions.
The opening night will feature a music show by Pancho Amat Y Su Cabildo Del Son and Johnny Ventura, from Cuba and Dominican Republic, respectively.
Among the films are Dois Filhos De
Francisco, based on the true story of two Brazilian musicians, Zeze di Camargo and his brother Luciano.
The film was one of Brazil’s most successful in the last 20 years and the biggest box office draw of 2005. The closing event is a concert by popular Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor. LACF is being organised by Vite Productions from Brazil.
Within Katara, LACF has brought together a couple of member organisations to share their local talents and know-how. Both the Doha Film Institute (DFI) and Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) have taken part in bringing this festival together.
With scores of award-winning films suggested to be screened at LACF, DFI provided advice to shortlist them to a final eight, providing a balanced selection and representation of the participating countries.
QPO on the other hand is set to wow classical music lovers through its most recent collaboration with the Dominican National Symphonic Orchestra under world-acclaimed conductor Jose Molina.
The Caribbean Gems classical concert will be held at Katara’s Opera House on October 10.
Fans interested in finding out more about LACF can follow Katara’s twitter (@kataraqatar ) and Facebook accounts (
https://www.facebook.com/#!/KataraQatar).
Tickets for all performances are available at the Virgin Megastores at both Landmark and Villaggio outlets.