Selected films to screen in Un Certain Regard, Special Screenings and parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Cannes Écrans Juniors
A diverse selection of films supported by the Doha Film Institute (DFI) have been chosen for screening at the Cannes Film Festival 2017, which is being held from 17 to 28 May. All films are recipients of DFI’s Grants Programme, and three were ‘fine-tuned’ under the eyes of master filmmakers at the recent Qumra industry event.
Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief Executive Officer of DFI said that this is a strong testament to the high quality of projects that DFI nurtures through their financing and mentoring initiatives.
We are delighted that the works of talented young filmmakers from the region and beyond have once again made the cut to the premier film event vying with films from around the world. Through our grants programme, we will continue to focus on identifying new voices and powerful stories that have the potential to shape new trends in world cinema.’
Marking their world premieres in the Un Certain Regard segment are: Beauty and the Dogs (Tunisia, France, Sweden, Norway, Lebanon, Switzerland, Germany, Qatar/ 2017) directed by Kaouther Ben Hania; and Until the Birds Return (Algeria, France, Germany, Qatar/ 2017) by Karim Moussaoui. Plot 35 (France, Qatar/ 2017) by Eric Caravaca world premieres in the Special Screening segment at Cannes. The film takes viewers into the heart of a fascinating human quest. Screenings in the parallel section of Cannes Écrans Juniors include Wallay (Burkina Faso, France, Qatar/ 2017) by Berni Goldblat and Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim (Egypt, UAE, France, Qatar / 2016) by Sherif El Bendary.
Selected for screening in the Directors’ Fortnight is Nothingwood (France, Germany, Qatar/ 2017), directed by Sonia Kronlund. A Spring 2017 recipient, the feature documentary is about Salim Shaheen, the most prolific and popular actor-director-producer in Afghanistan. Passionate about cinema, he tirelessly makes Z-grade movies in a country that has been at war for over 30 years.
Four grantee projects were also selected for key initiatives at the Marche Du Film (Cannes Film Market):
Alam, the Flag (Palestine, France, Qatar/2017) by Firas Khoury
The Translator (Syria, Jordan, France, Qatar/2017) by Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf
The Maiden’s Pond (Lebanon, Germany, Qatar) by Bassem Breche
You Will Die At Twenty by Amjad Abu Alala (Sudan, Egypt, Qatar)
Last year, a strong continent of films supported by DFI were screened in key sections at Cannes including the Official Competition, winning five major awards across the different sections. As part of DFI’s mandate to promote Qatar’s evolving film industry to the international community, the Institute will once again present a special showcase of ‘Made in Qatar’ films as part of the first-ever Market Screening and the Short Film Corner programme.
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