Innovative collaboration provides a platform to showcase film-making talent to the local community

Qatar Museum’s (QM) Fire Station and Al Jazeera Documentary have forged “an innovative and film-based” partnership that will provide a series of short documentaries over the next eight months.
A total of 15 films — running between 30 minutes and one hour in length and related to art and culture — will be screened from October to May 2018 at the 100-seat cinema at the Fire Station.
Entry is free.
The partnership aims to raise awareness and appreciation for art and culture amongst the local community, as well as provide platforms to showcase and celebrate both established and less well-known creative talents.
“As a centre for creative exchange, this partnership with Al Jazeera Documentary perfectly fits with our mission to inspire an indigenous culture of creativity and innovation in Qatar,” Fire Station director Khalifa al-Obaidly said in a statement.
“We hope this eclectic mix of films will attract and interest the widest possible audience and build new appreciation for both established and less well-known artistic figures.
“We are fully committed to providing a dynamic and varied programme of events and activities such as these to inspire, educate and inform the local community.”
Some of the highlights of these documentary series include Colour Maker, an exploration of artist Hassan al-Sharq’s journey from early childhood and humble beginnings in the small village of Zawyet Sultan in Al Minya, Egypt.
The film traces his success in establishing himself as a globally celebrated artist and celebrates his talent for showcasing landmarks from Egypt and the Arab world in striking paintings now exhibited in several of the largest museums around the world.
Another film is the Fourth Age, a documentary that provides an insight into the experiences of a group of elderly people who discovered their artistic talents later in life, following retirement.
It captures the experiences of a group of individuals from Lebanon and Morocco who defy common perceptions and prejudices towards old age through the strength of their determination to succeed in their chosen field.
Meanwhile, We Are Still Together follows the lives of Palestinian artists, the late Ismail Shammout and his wife Tamam al-Ahkal, who both created art depicting more than 50 years of the Palestinian experience since the Nakba (mass eviction) of 1948.
The film features an in-depth examination of the artists’ work, the direction of their paintings, and how each influenced the other.
The collaboration between the Fire Station and Al Jazeera Documentary is the latest example of the rich and diverse programmes of events and activities organised by the Fire Station.
Such partnership highlights the Fire Station’s growing importance as a cultural destination with a range of facilities and attractions for the local community including an art supply shop, restaurant, café, and gallery space.
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