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Second edition of DTFF showcased 51 feature films over five days from a stellar line up of world renowned directors including Abbas Kiarostami, Rachid Bouchareb, François Ozon, Julian Schnabel and Robert Rodriguez

Other highlights of this year’s Festival included Doha Talks, DTFF Family Day and the Brigitte Lacombe City Art Exhibit

25 October 2010 (Doha, Qatar) – The second annual Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) opened on October 26, and showcased 51 features from over 35 countries and territories over five days, including 10 films competed as part of the Festival’s inaugural Arab Film Competition, 33 features in World Panorama, 9 in the Arab Short Film Competition and 6 Special Screenings.

Comedies had a strong presence at this year’s Festival with films such as American/Egyptian director and comedian Ahmed Ahmed’s Just Like Us, Josef Fares’ Balls and Taika Waititi’s Boy, in addition to curated panels including “Do you Speak Comedy?”, part of the Doha Talks programme.

DTFF 2010 was excited to have representation from a large number of Arab stars including actors Carmen Lebbos, Razi Shawahdeh, Ashraf Farah, Yasmine Al Massri, Yosra amongst others and filmmakers Mahdi Ali Ali, Nadia Hamzeh, Hisham Bizro, Adolf El Assal, Mahmoud Kaabour, Ibrahim El Batout, Bahij Hojeij, Mohamed Abbazi, Sameh Zoabi, Siwar Zirkly, Rima Essa, Hichem Ben Ammar, Hassan Ali Mahmood, Burhan Qurbani amongst others.

H.E. Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousuf Al Thani, DFI Festival Board Member said: “We are glad to be hosting Family Day. It’s so important to us because creating community events like this is integral to everything we do as part of DFI and DTFF. These events are about bringing Qataris together and giving them a great experience they can share with their families. We want to welcome the maximum number of families and people to be part of the Festival. In addition to introducing new films to Qataris, we also want to educate our younger generation about film culture because they will be the filmmakers and storytellers of the future.”

Amanda Palmer, Executive Director of DFI, said: “This year our opening night will be shown to 2,800 people at Katara, which is extraordinary. We recognize DTFF and DFI will only succeed with community support, which is why community outreach continues to be our number one priority. The creation of DFI earlier this year means that our film activity is now not just limited to the five days of the Festival. It is attached to our year-round educational and cultural initiatives as we continue to build a local film industry and film culture in Qatar.”

Over 800 volunteers, including a large number of students from schools and colleges across Doha, lended their support to the Festival in a variety of tasks ranging from ushers, guest relation and theatre assistants, information staff and administrative roles.

Building on the success of last year, the second edition of the Festival showcased an international and diversely curated film programme with a focus on Arab cinema, public engagement through large community events, and educational filmmaking programmes.

The inaugural Arab Film Competition with awards for Best Arab Film and Best Arab Filmmaker included prize money of $100,000 (USD) each and the Audience prizes – Best Narrative Film and Best Documentary Film, both with awards of $100,000 (USD).

Other key features of this year’s festival included:

- Doha Talks, a series of panels, a masterclass and industry events programmed that featured industry professionals and allowed them to share their experience/knowledge with aspiring filmmakers and general audiences.

Participants included American/Egyptian director and comedian Ahmed Ahmed, , director Taika Waititi, filmmaker Mira Nair, photographer Brigitte Lacombe, director Scandar Copti, composer Nitin Sawhney and director Rachid Bouchareb to name a few.

Sessions ranged from Do you Speak Comedy? Humour Crossing Borders which included the creators and performers behind the comedies in this year’s DTFF film line-up and “Little Fockers”: Development and Evolution of the “Meet the Parents” Franchise with producer Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro.

- DTFF Family Day (October 29), it offered opportunities for children and families to play, experience, and learn as they engaged in the adventure of discovering the wonders of Katara, the cultural village of Doha.

A “Passport to Fun” was available and guided everyone through the varied and delightful experiences of the day. From arts and crafts, performances, workshops, games, screenings, stage performances, a Zoetrope Village and more, each and every experience was an opportunity for families and children to celebrate Qatari culture and community. Special family film screenings at the Katara Open Air Theatre included Randall Wallace’s Secretariat and Boy, written and directed by Taika Waititi.

- Brigitte Lacombe Exhibition: Renowned French photographer Brigitte Lacombe presented the “I am Film: work-in-progress” exhibition at Katara.