FICTS President, Prof Franco Ascani (centre), Director of Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, Dr Christian Wacker (right), and Founder and Chairman of Youth Company, Mohammad Farid, at the opening of Qatar Sports Film Festival at MIA yesterday. Abdul Basit
BY RAYNALD C RIVERA
DOHA: A documentary on two-time Red Bull Street Style Qatar champion Abdullah Mahmoud Abu Nahia won the top prize at the inaugural Qatar Sports Film Festival which opened yesterday at the Al Riwaq exhibition space.
“It’s quite emotional for me to win the festival considering the many international entries,” said Ibrahim Arar, director and producer of the film who walked away with a cash prize of QR10,000.
A civil engineer by profession, Ibrahim said he has always been fascinated with filmmaking so he is not new in film festivals but this was the first time for him to win first prize.
“This is the initial step for me on perhaps a long road to filmmaking and this award gives me more encouragement to go forward in this field,” he said, adding he plans to show the film to more people.
Ibrahim chose his friend Abdullah, an avid football freestyler, as the subject of the film he created especially for the festival.
“Football freestyle is not yet that popular in Qatar but it has a huge following around the world,” said Abdullah, who has just finished a degree in translation.
The film Sport Dancer tells of Abdullah’s passion for the sport which started since Grade 9 and continues to-date leading him to various competitions both locally and internationally.
He was crowned Red Bull Street Style Qatar champion in 2009 and 2012 which gave him the rare opportunity to carry Qatar’s flag twice in the international arena.
He used to train four to six hours a day when he was starting and into more competitions, but because of other commitments, he now trains an hour a day but promises to improve more on the sport.
“I love freestyle. I see myself as getting more professional in this field to compete in more competitions and prove my self internationally,” he added. To the crowd’s amazement, Abdullah presented a minute demonstration of the sport he does best.
Equally mesmerising were teenage duo Colin Herrington and Dylan Finol with their film Frisbee Trick Shots which won them third prize. In the three and a half minute film, the schoolmates show amazing tricks shooting frisbees in the trash bin, basketball ring or even across a canal, all done from great distances and heights.
“I think now that we’ve placed in a contest and got some recognition, we’d like to keep making more videos in YouTube, hopefully getting more subscribers and to play ultimate frisbee to get more recognised,” said Colin, a Canadian Eighth Grader at the The KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) School in Saudi Arabia. “I hope that ultimate frisbee would be in Olympics someday,” said Dylan, who looks up to frisbee trick shot star Brodie Smith as his idol in sports.
Dr Christian Wacker, Director of Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum (QOSM), was impressed by the quality of submissions for QSFF. “The submissions were a huge variety. They have very diverse quality and content are excellent and emotionally charged,” he said, adding the festival was intended to be part of the Olympics Past and Present exhibition.
For the two-day festival, it was essential for the QOSM and The Youth Company to forge a partnership with FICTS (Fédération Internationale Cinéma Télévision Sportifs), “because FICTS is the umbrella institution which partners with sports film festivals around the world and they can help a lot to grant licences for the films, making sure they are of top calibre,” Dr Wacker said.
The Peninsula
