Ajyal Youth Film Festival lines up special screenings

The Doha Film Institute is set to showcase an extensive  line-up of films under the special screenings segment at the inaugural Ajyal Youth Film Festival at Katara from November 26-30.Featuring a trove of films from Brazil, Canada, France, Mexico, Palestine, Qatar, Spain, UK, and USA, the segment will also screen Pascal Plisson’s On the Way to School (2013), in collaboration with the Education Above All Foundation (EAA) in support of its Educate A Child programme. Founded and chaired by HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, EAA is a foundation committed to bringing opportunities to poor and marginalised children, youth and women in the developing world.  A highlight of the special screenings is the Qatar Year of Culture Cinema Showcase, marking the collaborative efforts of the Doha Film Institute (DFI) with the British Council and Qatar Museums Authority. Ajyal Youth Film Festival director Fatma al-Remaihi said at a press conference that the special screenings showcase is DFI’s salute to classic and contemporary cinema and its role in bridging cultures. Throughout the year, DFI partnered with the British Council and Qatar Museums Authority to present monthly screenings. These celebrations will culminate with a special screening of British director Arthur Landon’s Side by Side (2013). The film will be preceded by the screening of Carioca Soul (2002) by Brazilian filmmaker William Côgo, symbolising Qatar’s relations with Brazil and the start of a new celebration for 2014. Nitin Sawhney and Roger Hill’s Palestine-US film Flying Paper (2013) is an uplifting documentary on children in Gaza, who are on a quest to scoop the Guinness World Record for the most kites ever flown, showcasing the creative resilience of a group of young Palestinians who make and fly their kites, despite the difficulties of their everyday surroundings.On the Way to School (2013), a co-production between France and Mexico, by Pascal Plisson follows four students – Jackson, Zahira, Samuel, and Carlito, from Morocco, Kenya, India, and Argentina respectively, and their confrontation with dangerous obstacles. A Shout from Within (2013)  by Jan Xavier Pacle from Qatar, captures the lives of eight students from the Filipino community in Qatar, all from different backgrounds, each with their own personal struggle, in a narrative underscoring acceptance and reconciliation.Canadian filmmaker Eric Tessier’s The Pee-Wee 3D: The Winter That Changed My Life (2012), conveys the determination and dedication of 12-year-old Janaeu, to make it to the pee-wee hockey team in a hockey-obsessed community in Quebec. Voiced by an all-star cast, Manuel Sicilia’s Spanish film, Justin and the Knights of Valour (2013), is a charming animated 3D adventure for all ages, in the vein of beloved classic sagas and fairytales.