Seven films supported by the Doha Film Institute (DFI) through its grants and co-financing programmes have been selected for the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) which opens September 9. The event runs until September 18.
Continuing to support and showcase Arab and international films to global audiences at leading film events, the selection at TIFF builds on the strong showing of DFI-supported films at the Cannes, Venice, Locarno and Sarajevo film festivals earlier this summer.
Two films will mark their world premieres in the festival’s TIFF Docs and Discovery segments, three films from the Middle East screen in the Contemporary World Cinema category dedicated to international emerging directors, one film will feature in the festival’s Special Events category and one will have its world premiere in the Platform segment.
“We are incredibly proud to be presenting new voices in Arab and world cinema to film lovers at one of the world’s largest publicly attended events. The selection includes compelling and innovative stories from the region and beyond and are moving portrayals that exist within a space of true artistic discovery and deep-felt humanity,” DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said in a statement.
Huda’s Salon (Palestine, Egypt, Netherlands, Qatar) by two-times Oscar Nominee Hany Abu Assad and co-financed by DFI, screens in the festival’s Platform section and is also nominated for the Platform Prize.
Memoria (Thailand, Colombia, Mexico, France, Germany, Qatar) directed by Qumra Master and Palme d’Or winning Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and co-financed by DFI, screens as part of the festival’s Special Events category.
Mohammed Abugeth and Daniel Carsenty’s feature documentary, The Devil’s Drivers (Palestine, France, Lebanon, Germany, Qatar) will world premiere in the festival’s TIFF Docs line-up.
Tanzanian filmmaker Amil Shivji’s Tug of War (Tanzania, South Africa, Germany, Qatar) will also mark its world premiere in the festival’s Discovery segment.
Fall Grants 2018 recipient Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava Lebanon (Lebanon, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Qatar) screens in Contemporary World Cinema, a category dedicated to presents cinema by emerging voices from around the world with a focus on non-English language art house films.
Also screening in Contemporary World Cinema is Whether the Weather is Fine (Philippines, France, Singapore, Germany, Indonesia, Qatar) by Carlo Francisco Manatad.
Alongside Akl and Manatad, Khader Ayderus Ahmed’s The Gravedigger's Wife (Somalia, Finland, France, Germany, Qatar), is another DFI-supported film selected to the Contemporary World Cinema category.
As well as in-person screenings, the festival will also have digital and outdoor premieres.
“We are incredibly proud to be presenting new voices in Arab and world cinema to film lovers at one of the world’s largest publicly attended events. The selection includes compelling and innovative stories from the region and beyond and are moving portrayals that exist within a space of true artistic discovery and deep-felt humanity,” DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said in a statement.
Huda’s Salon (Palestine, Egypt, Netherlands, Qatar) by two-times Oscar Nominee Hany Abu Assad and co-financed by DFI, screens in the festival’s Platform section and is also nominated for the Platform Prize.
Memoria (Thailand, Colombia, Mexico, France, Germany, Qatar) directed by Qumra Master and Palme d’Or winning Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and co-financed by DFI, screens as part of the festival’s Special Events category.
Mohammed Abugeth and Daniel Carsenty’s feature documentary, The Devil’s Drivers (Palestine, France, Lebanon, Germany, Qatar) will world premiere in the festival’s TIFF Docs line-up.
Tanzanian filmmaker Amil Shivji’s Tug of War (Tanzania, South Africa, Germany, Qatar) will also mark its world premiere in the festival’s Discovery segment.
Fall Grants 2018 recipient Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava Lebanon (Lebanon, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Qatar) screens in Contemporary World Cinema, a category dedicated to presents cinema by emerging voices from around the world with a focus on non-English language art house films.
Also screening in Contemporary World Cinema is Whether the Weather is Fine (Philippines, France, Singapore, Germany, Indonesia, Qatar) by Carlo Francisco Manatad.
Alongside Akl and Manatad, Khader Ayderus Ahmed’s The Gravedigger's Wife (Somalia, Finland, France, Germany, Qatar), is another DFI-supported film selected to the Contemporary World Cinema category.
As well as in-person screenings, the festival will also have digital and outdoor premieres.