By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter
The third Ajyal Youth Film Festival will hold special screenings on December 3 for visually-impaired audiences on the occasion of UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The inclusive cinema experience for differently-abled persons will allow them to view the films through sound alone.
Fatma al-Remaihi, CEO of Doha Film Institute (DFI) and festival director, said DFI collaborated with Hamad Bin Khalika University’s (HBKU) Translation and Interpreting Institute to create the audio description and enriched subtitles which will also benefit deaf and hard of hearing viewers, as well as those who have difficulty understanding speech.
“This year, we will premiere three incredibly diverse examples of the artform: Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur, Studio Ghibli’s When Marnie Was There and Barajoun Studios’ Bilal,” al-Remaihi said.
“Making the line-up even more memorable is our special screening of Qatari animation Hero and the Message that highlights our efforts to use cinema as a medium to raise awareness and foster inclusion of people with different abilities.”
The animated film created by Al Rayyan Productions narrates the story of a Qatari brother and sister who travel back in time on a futuristic train to see the founding events of Qatar with focus on the Qatar National Day (QND).
QND marked the historic day in 1878 when Sheikh Jassem bin Mohamed bin Thani, founder of Qatar, unified the country under one banner.
The 25-minute film will be in Arabic with Arabic audio description, including Arabic and English enriched subtitles.
Bilal, which will serve as the closing film of the festival on December 5, involves creative talents from 22 countries.
The DFI-funded film directed by Ayman Jamal and Khurram Alavi tells an inspiring real-life story of Bilal Bin Rabah about faith, hope and self-discovery.
