A still image from the film Still Recording.
DOHA: Ten films, all recipients of the Doha Film Institute (DFI) Grants Programme, have been selected to be screened at the prestigious Venice International Film Festival and parallel sections; the International Critics’ Week and the Giornate degli Autori from August 29 to September 8.
Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief Executive Officer of DFI, said: “10 bold films with powerful themes that reflect gritty stories of the region, and supported by our Grants programme, are heading to Venice, where they have the opportunity to gain international interest and recognition. Our Grants programme is central to our commitment to nurturing emerging talents, and we are delighted that the works of ten filmmakers in different stages of production are heading to Venice. We will continue to focus on strengthening the capability of aspiring talents locally and across the region.”
Two films are in the Orizzonti segment including The Day I Lost My Shadow (Syria, Lebanon, Qatar) by Soudade Kaadan and Unremember (Brazil, France, Qatar) by Flavia Castro.
In Venice Days is Screwdriver (Palestine, USA, Qatar) by Bassam Jarbawi. For the first time in ten years, one documentary is among the three finalists competing for the Lux Film Prize. Directed by Mila Turajlić, The Other Side of Everything (Serbia, France, Qatar), is a feature documentary about an apartment in Belgrade that turns a family chronicle into a portrait of a country in political turmoil.
Underlining the strong international inroads being made by films supported by DFI, the selection includes three films to be screened in the International Critics’ Week segment including: A Kasha (Sudan, South Africa, Germany, Qatar) by Hajooj Kuka, nurtured at DFI’s annual industry event Qumra in 2018; Still Recording (Syria, Lebanon, France, Qatar) a 2017 Qumra project, feature documentary by Saeed Al Batal and Ghiath Ayoub; and You Have the Night (Montenegro, Serbia, Qatar) by Ivan Salatic.
Three films are in the Venice Production Bridge, which focuses on the presentation and exchange of original projects for films and works in progress. Selected at the Venice Gap Financing Market are: All This Victory (Lebanon, France, Germany, Qatar) by Ahmad Ghossein; and the 2017 Qumra project The Unknown Saint (Morocco, France, Qatar) by Alaa Eddine Aljem. Haifa Street (Iraq, Qatar) by Mohanad Hayal - has been chosen to the Final Cut category that aims to provide concrete assistance in the completion of films from all African nations and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.
