Doha Film Institute (DFI) will screen 17 “captivating films” as part of Qumra 2018, the annual industry event being held from tomorrow until March 14, at Souq Waqif and the Museum of Islamic Art.
The screenings, open to the public and Qumra Pass holders, are in two segments – Master Screenings, featuring works of the Qumra Masters; and New Voices in Cinema, to showcase feature-length and short films that are supported by DFI through its Grants programme. Following the screenings, the audience can interact with the filmmakers and talents through an open Q&A session.
Fatima al-Remaihi, chief executive officer of DFI, said: “The Qumra Screenings offer an unprecedented opportunity not only to revisit and refamiliarise with the works of some of the luminaries in world cinema today but also to discover fresh voices in film, spearheaded by our emerging talents.”
This year, the Qumra Master Screenings present the works of six distinguished personalities in world cinema: Academy Award-winner Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Caravaggio); Sandy Powell, Oscar-winning British costume designer (The Young Victoria, The Aviator, Shakespeare in Love); Oscar-nominated director Bennett Miller (Capote, Moneyball, Foxcatcher); Venice Golden Lion-winning Russian director and writer Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless); Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Thai filmmaker and visual artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Cemetery of Splendour, Tropical Malady, Blissfully Yours), and the only documentary director to win the Berlinale Golden Bear, Italian director Gianfranco Rosi (Fire at Sea, Sacro GRA).
The Modern Master Screenings include Okja (South Korea, US/2017), an action adventure film directed by Bong Joon-ho, and starring Qumra Master Tilda Swinton, along with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ahn Seo-hyun; The Young Victoria (UK, US/2009), which won Qumra Master Powell an Academy Award for Best Costume Design, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and starring Emily Blunt, Jim Broadbent, Paul Bettany and an ensemble cast; Qumra Master Weerasethakul’s film Footprints by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, which explores the mechanics of making films; The Return (Russia/2003) by Qumra Master Zvyagintsev; Fire at Sea (Fuoccoammare) (Italy/2016) directed by Qumra Master Rosi, which was the winner of the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival; and Qumra Master Miller’s Moneyball (US/2011), which stars Brad Pitt, Jonah Hills and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
In the New Voices in Cinema segment, all 10 films are supported by DFI through its Grants programme. Four of these are ‘Made in Qatar’ films directed by Qatari directors or those who call the country home. The films in the section include four feature-length works: Hunting Season (Argentina, France, Germany, US, Qatar/2017), the debut feature-length film by Natalia Garagiola; Taste of Cement (Syria, Lebanon, Germany, UAE, Qatar/2017) by Ziad Kalthoum, a feature documentary about the Syrian workers who rebuild Lebanon even as their hometowns are destroyed in the brutal conflict; City of the Sun (Georgia, US, the Netherlands, Qatar/2017) by Rati Oneli, which is set in the once-celebrated manganese-mining town of Chiatura in Georgia; and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Beauty and the Dogs (Tunisia, France, Sweden, Norway, Lebanon, Switzerland, Germany, Qatar/2017).
The six short films to be screened in the New Voices in Cinema segment are: Tshweesh (Lebanon, Germany, Spain, Qatar/2017) by Feyrouz Serhal, set in Beirut; The President’s Visit (Lebanon, US, Qatar/2017) by Cyril Aris; Language (Iraq, Qatar/2017), directed by Iraqi novelist Mortada Gzar; 1001 Days (Qatar/2017) by Aisha al-Jaidah, an animated short that, through its traditional fairy tale structure, addresses eternal issues such as sacrifice, equality and bravery, and considers how today’s women deserve equal treatment and privileges; Domestic Acoustics (Qatar/2017) by Majid al-Remaihi, an experimental endeavour that explores the overlap of domestic and creative spaces, and their relationship to the female artist; Chaos Antidote (Qatar/2017) by Hadeer Omar and Idris Elhassan, which portrays the ever-changing urban landscape of Doha in a dreamily contemplated, wordless, documentary essay; and Embodiment (Qatar/2017) by Khalifa AlMarri, which is a poetic reflection of Qatar’s becoming a sophisticated nation of wealth and influence while retaining its centuries-old traditions.
Ticket sales for the screenings have commenced. One can visit www.dohafilminstitute.com for online and in-person ticketing details. Tickets are priced at QR35.
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