The world premiere of the Doha Film Institute (DFI) co-financed film Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet received acclaim at the recently-held Toronto International Film Festival.

The film was presented at a gala screening on September 6, which was followed by press and industry screenings of the new film during the week.

DFI announced that the Middle East premiere would take place at the second edition of the Institute’s upcoming Ajyal Youth Film Festival (AYFF) on December 6.

Fatma al-Remaihi, acting CEO of DFI and Director AYFF was in attendance at the premiere alongside actress and producer Salma Hayek, voice actress Quvenzhane Wallis and popular Gulf filmmaker Mohamed Harib, creator of Freej, who is one of the nine directors of the project alongside award-winning artists from across the globe.

Each of the eight animated chapters which brought Gibran’s poetry to life was met with applause from the audience at the Ryerson theatre and Twitter reactions too were positive. 

Al-Remaihi said: “Gibran’s The Prophet is a work of literature that arises from our Arab culture and that resonates throughout the Middle East and indeed, around the world.

“We are proud to have been involved as a co-financier from the very early stages to bring this visionary work to the screen, and we are delighted to host its premiere in the Middle East during the AYFF. For generations, people young and old have been inspired by Gibran’s lyrical poetry and I’m sure this film will only broaden the tremendous appeal of his work.”

Kaleem Aftab from The National reported Hayek’s response following the screening: “I never expected that the audience would start clapping 20 minutes into the film - that was amazing.”

“That was the first time with the audience and it was more than I could expect. I was very moved and surprised and I just managed not to cry, by a little bit.”