The festival will kick off with ‘Dead Man's Wire’, Gus Van Sant's dark and jubilant comedy and close with Annemarie Jacir’s Palestinian submission to the Oscars ‘Palestine 36’, with loads of wondrous films screening in between.
Read MoreJafar Panahi, after his Palme d’Or win for It Was Just an Accident
Jafar Panahi & 'The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo' take Cannes top prizes -- in Competition and Un Certain Regard
At a festival where everyone was told to avoid political statements, the juries made their views loud and clear by choosing films to award with their activists caps on.
Read MoreCannes' sidebars -- Critics' Week, Directors' Fortnight and ACID selections announced
Among the titles which stand out to me immediately are two beautiful projects, one selected for Critics’ Week and the other in the Fortnight line up, which participated in the recent DFI Qumra industry incubator. And I included the shorts in Critics’ Week!
Read MoreQumra 2025 projects include an outlaw Bedouin bandit couple adventure and a Palestinian dystopian sci-fi thriller
Also included in the extensive line up of projects participating in the upcoming industry incubator organized by the Doha Film Institute is the follow up by Algerian helmers Damien Ounouri and Adila Bendimerad to their award winning epic ‘The Last Queen’, as well as Suzannah Mirghani’s highly anticipated feature debut ‘Cotton Queen’.
Read MoreA still from ‘Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story’, courtesy of the filmmaker
Doha Film Institute Awards announces new grant recipients -- 44 diverse projects from 32 countries
The highly anticipated announcement confirms the DFI’s commitment as the region’s longest-serving film development initiative, as the Institute has supported more than 800 films from 74 countries to date.
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