The selection includes films from Algeria, Egypt, France, Jordan, Indonesia, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia, highlighting DFI's support for independent voices in cinema.
Venice International Film Festival, which begins on August 31 and continues until September 10, will screen 13 films supported by the Doha Film Institute (DFI).
The festival aims to raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms: art, entertainment and industry.
Underlining the diversity of the DFI’s support to independent voices in cinema, the selection includes movies from Algeria, Egypt, France, Jordan, Indonesia, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia.
Speaking about the event, Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Chief Executive Officer of DFI, said: “We are incredibly proud to showcase 13 diverse films backed by DFI at the Venice Film Festival this year, underlining our commitment to support emerging Arab talent and filmmakers from across the globe. The selection includes bold, independent, and trend-setting films from across the world, that stand out for their diversity of themes and how the filmmakers approach their stories through innovative techniques that push the boundaries of conventional filmmaking. Their Venice debut will mark the beginning of an exciting journey for all these films, and I congratulate the teams behind them on their inclusion at this prestigious festival.”
Selected to the Orizzonti section, an international competition dedicated to films that represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends is Autobiography (Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Poland, Germany, France, Qatar) directed by Makbul Mubarak, and nurtured at Qumra.
Another Qumra project, Nezouh (Syria, Lebanon, Qatar), directed by Soudade Kaadan, has been chosen for the Orizzonti Extra selection, which features up to 10 global works that demonstrate original creativity.
The Last Queen (Algeria, France, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Qatar), also nurtured at Qumra, is an official selection to the 19th edition of Giornate degli Autori, an independent sidebar of the Venice Film Festival, modelled on the prestigious ‘Directors’ Fortnight’ of the Cannes Festival.
Dirty Difficult Dangerous (France, Lebanon, Germany, Qatar), the Institute’s 2019 Spring Grants recipient, also screens in the Official Selection of the Venice Giornate degli Autori.
Screening at the Critics’ Week, a parallel section of the Venice International Film Festival organised by the Union of Italian Film Critics (SNCCI) is Queens (Morocco, France, Belgium, Qatar), directed by Yasmine Benkiran.
Six films supported by the DFI feature in the 10th edition of the Final Cut in Venice, a workshop that aims to provide strong assistance in the completion of films from Africa and Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria.
These include InshAllah A Boy (Jordan, Egypt, France, Qatar), by Amjad Al Rasheed; Blacklight (Algeria, France, Qatar) by Karim Bensalah; Backstage (Morocco, Tunisia, France, Belgium, Norway, Qatar) by Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane; A Fidai Film (Palestine, Germany, Qatar) by Kamal Aljafari; Suspended (Lebanon, Qatar), directed by Myriam El Hajj; and Land of Women (Egypt, France, Denmark, Qatar) by Nada Riyadh.
Two films supported by the Institute are selected for the Venice Gap-Financing Market which includes The 67th Summer (France, Egypt, Austria, Germany, Qatar) by Abu Bakr Shawky, and 5 Seasons of Revolution (Syria, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, Qatar) by Lina – No Notion Films, Lina.
