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Ajyal Film Festival for the Young and Giffoni Film Festival to share knowledge, expertise in international exchange of cinema culture

Doha, 22 July, 2013: Doha Film Institute (DFI) today unveiled plans to develop its on-going partnership with Italy’s Giffoni Film Festival, the largest film festival for children in Europe.

DFI has had a very productive and successful relationship with the Giffoni Film Festival since 2010. For four years, DFI and Giffoni collaborated on programming for younger audiences, and brought international youth jury members to Doha for the Doha-Giffoni Experience during DFI’s annual film festival, while DFI sent young people to Giffoni to sit on juries there. The successful and popular joint programme brought hundreds of children and young people together to discuss their views on cinema with their peers, hone their skills of film analysis, and forge lifelong international friendships.

Abdulaziz Al Khater, CEO of DFI, said, “DFI is moving forward in a new direction, focusing its support on emerging international filmmakers and on galvanising the culture of cinema appreciation in Doha. Devising collaborations with like-minded organisations from around the world is part of this thinking. The Giffoni Film Festival has a firmly established reputation for excellence and lengthy experience in exploring cinema for young people. This makes Giffoni an especially effective partner for DFI in enhancing cinema appreciation among Qatar’s youth.”

With the new Ajyal Film Festival for the Young set to take place between 26 – 30 November, 2013, DFI is formalizing its collaboration with Giffoni through the signing of a cultural partnership agreement. DFI and Giffoni will benefit from each other’s experiences in programming for younger audiences and DFI will create and launch the Doha Film Experience, an expanded youth jury programme modelled on the previous Doha-Giffoni Experience that will put hundreds of young people on the juries that decide on Ajyal’s prize winners.

This cultural partnership aims to provide a fun and engaging mechanism for the exchange of cultural knowledge and experiences between youth audiences from Qatar, Italy and the rest of the world.

Claudio Gubitosi, Founder and Managing Director of Giffoni Experience said: “We have been working closely with DFI on various initiatives and we are excited to broaden our collaboration through this cultural partnership. DFI shares our dedication to engaging and inspiring younger audiences through film and together we can provide stronger platforms for young people from all over the world to share their experiences and discuss film.”

Fatma Al Remaihi, Festival Director of Ajyal and DFI’s Head of Programmes, said, “An investment in engaging and encouraging cultural exchange and knowledge in upcoming generations is a valuable and important investment in their – and our – future. We are excited to have this opportunity to work closely with Giffoni, as we see tremendous potential to design programming and experiences that will solidify awareness around cinema and give young people the space to express themselves creatively and honestly. With Giffoni’s help, we will continue to encourage today’s young people to take on the challenges of the future, so they can become the artists and professionals of tomorrow.”

The inaugural Ajyal Film Festival for the Young takes place in Doha from 26 to 30 November, 2013.