DOHA: The 2015 Ajyal Youth Film Festival at Katara from November 29 to December 5 will bring together globally acclaimed filmmakers.
International filmmakers and experts will share their stories, inspire and enlighten local audiences and the selected jurors.
Leading the brigade is Bosnian director and screenwriter Danis Tanovic, along with Afghan director Yousef Baraki; Zig Madamba Dulay from the Philippines; Spanish filmmaker Pablo Iraburu; Yury Feting from Russia; American director Graham Townsley; Mexican directors Ana V Boj?rquez and Carreras; and Japanese actor, singer and writer Durian Sukegawa, among others.
Tigers (India, France, UK/2014) by Academy-Award winning director Danis Tanovic will be screened on November 30 and December 4 as part of the Special Screenings segment.
Starring Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi, the film is based on a real-life story and a hard-hitting look at nefarious practices of multinational corporations in the developing world.
Ajyal will mark Qatar premiere for Tigers, as Tanovic was one of five Masters at the first Qumra in March, Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) industry event for emerging filmmakers.
Meena Sargardan (Mina Walking, Canada, Afghanistan/2015) by Afghan-Canadian director Yousef Baraki will be shown on December 1 and 5 in the Hilal Competition segment.
It tells the story of 12-year-old Mina saddled with caring for her senile grandfather and supporting her layabout father, while trying to make a better life for all in war-torn Afghanistan.
Bambanti (Scarecrow, Philippines/2015) by Zig Madamba Dulay will be screened on December 1 and 3 in the Hilal Competition segment.
It is moving film that explores the complicated relationship of social injustice, privilege and familial expectations.
Pablo Iraburu’s Walls (Muros, Spain/2015) competing in the Bader segment will be shown on December 1 and 4.
It follows subjects on both sides of three contemporary international borders, demonstrating that the barriers lining them signal a lack of camaraderie. Imposing and threatening, they define who is worthy and who is not.
Nebesnyyverblyud (Celestial Camel, Russia/2014) by Yuri Feting is included in the Mohaq competitive segment and will be shown on December 2 and 5. It’s about Bayir, a young sheepherder, who heads off on an epic journey to find the mother of his beloved camel calf they are forced to sell and discovers that wonders happen in the most unlikely of places.
Landfill Harmonic (US, Spain/2015) by Graham Townsley and Brad All good will be shown on December 3 in the Hilal Competition segment. In a wonderful celebration of the soul-affirming joy of making music.
The film screening will begin with a performance by The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan musical group of kids that live next to one of South America’s largest landfills.
La casa mas grande del mundo (The Greatest House in the World, Mexico/2015) by directors Boj?rquez and Carreras will be shown on November 30 and December 5 in the Mohaq competitive segment.
Naomi Kawase’s An (Japan, France, Germany/2015) is a big screen adaptation of writer, singer and actor Durian Sukegawa’s novel An. It will be shown December 2 and 3 in the Bader competition segment. The programme consists of daily public screenings of local and international films; ‘Made in Qatar’ section to showcasing home-grown talent from Qatar; Sony Cinema Under the Stars; family weekend; Doha Giffoni Youth Media Summit; special events and exhibitions; Sandbox interactive digital playground; school screenings; and Ajyal Competition, where hundreds of jurors aged 8-21 will watch and discuss shorts and features and decide on the winning films.
The Peninsula
