From left: Canadian ambassador, Belgium ambassador, Swiss Ambassador, DFI chief executive officer and the French ambassador at the opening night.
Katara DFI Cinema launched the opening night of Francophone Cinema Week - La Semaine du Cinéma Francophone. Held in collaboration with the French embassy in Qatar and Institut Français du Qatar and with the support of the embassies of Belgium, Canada and Switzerland, the event celebrates the Francophone Month.
Many of the French-speaking ambassadors in Qatar attended the event.
The programme, which runs until March 13, presents the best of contemporary cinema from the French-speaking world to film fans in Doha.
The evening opened with the short film Champs-Elysees Je T’aime by Qatari director Mahdi Ali Ali followed by the Qatari premiere of the Cannes Palme D’or winner and Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language, Amour by renowned director Michael Haneke.
The programme will close with the worldwide box-office hit film The Intouchables, directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric
Toledano.
Other movies that will be screened during this week include the heartfelt animation Ernest et Célestine -Ernest & Celestine- by Stéphane Aubier, Benjamin Renner and Vincent Patar, the poignant story from the Arab world Yema by Djamila Sahraoui, and the dark fairytale Androman - De Sang et de Charbon-Androman - Blood and Coal- by Az Larabe Alaoui.
Other movies to be featured during the week include the Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film 2012 Monsieur Lazhar by Philippe Falardeau, an intense family drama based on a true story À perdre la raison -Our Children- by Joachim Lafosse, the acclaimed Cannes title La Pirogue -The Pirogue- by Moussa Touré and the 2012 Berlinale Silver Bear winner L’enfant d’en haut –Sister- by Ursula Meier.
La Semaine du Cinema Francophone features a vibrant mix of drama, animation and comedy, in celebration of the world’s love affair with French language cinema. All films in the programme are subtitled in Arabic and English. Tickets can be purchased at the Katara Drama Theatre before each screening during Francophone Cinema Week.
For tickets, box office timings and full films listing, public can log in to www.dohafilminstitute.com. The DFI ticket outlet at Katara Drama theatre opens 30 minutes prior to the day’s first
screening start time.
