Stage set for ‘Symphony of Films’

A week-long celebration of film and music awaits audiences as the Doha Film Institute Cinema (DFI Cinema) presents the second edition of the thematic series, ‘A Symphony of Films’. The six-day series will take place from Thursday at Katara Drama Theatre and Opera House. The seven featured films include Score: A Film Music Documentary, Batman, Bicycle Thieves, Stalker, Pather Panchali and Metropolis. The specially curated programme will also include a masterclass by British composer and songwriter Dr Deborah Mollison on ‘Becoming a Film Composer.’ The masterclass is presented in collaboration with the British Council and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.On Friday, ‘A Symphony of Films: Music from Britain and Qatar’ will see a special performance at 7.30pm by Dr Mollison, Dana al-Fardan (Necromancer and Intertwined), Nasser Nasseb (Four Seasons) and Wael Binali (Earth and Niramaya. The concert will be accompanied by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.A selection of works from Dr Mollison’s career spanning two decades will be the highlight of the evening, with an array of epic and microscopic forms of composition. Among the pieces to be performed are the opening titles from The Boys of Sunset Ridge, The Irish Empire, East is East, Infinite Justice, Tied to a Chair, Wild Weather and the end theme from Heather’s Painting. The masterclass on Saturday, at 5.30pm, will see Dr Mollison investigating the journey needed to become a film composer. She will reflect on how her own career took shape and the evolution of her work. She will discuss the impact of musical processes and techniques used in film composition, with regards to the language of film music in general and in her own film compositions.The second season of ‘A Symphony of Films’ will kick off on Thursday at 7.30pm with Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016/US), directed by Matt Schrader, an American documentary filmmaker and three-time Emmy Award winning news producer. Score is an exploration in the power, influence and evolution of music in modern motion pictures and features some of cinema’s most recognised names in film music like Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, John Williams and Alexander Desplat.Also on Thursday, at 10pm, families can enjoy a screening of Batman (1989/US, UK) directed by Tim Burton with music by Danny Elfman. On Saturday at 3pm, there is a free screening of Azur & Asmar: The Princes’ Quest (2006/France, Belgium, Spain, Italy), a delightful animation directed by Michel Ocelot, followed by the Deborah Mollison masterclass. Also on Saturday, at 8.30pm, is the screening of the classic Bicycle Thieves (1948/Italy), directed by Vittorio Di Sica and with music by Alessandro Cicognini. The film won the honorary Oscars, regarded as the precursor of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film category. Stalker (1979/Russia), by the master director Andrei Tarkovsky and with music composed by Eduard Artemev, will be screened on Sunday at 7.30pm. The classic Indian film Pather Panchali (1955, India) by auteur Satyajit Ray will be screened on Monday at 7.30pm, with music composed by sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. ‘A Symphony of Films’ concludes next Tuesday with the screening of Metropolis (1927, Germany) directed by Fritz Lang and presented with live accompaniment by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. This Cine Concert is presented as part of Qatar Germany 2017 Year of Culture and in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, the German Embassy, Qatar Museums and Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.Tickets can be purchased from Katara Drama Theatre (Building 16) and Drama Theatre entrance from Friday to Monday. Tickets are also available for purchase online at www.dohafilminstitute.com