FPS - Doha Tribeca Film Festival
The Fabulous Picture Show

Doha Tribeca Film Festival

A preview and behind-the-scenes look at DTFF and its role as a cultural institution.

The first Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF), which takes place from October 29 to November 1, is probably the most anticipated new festival on the international film scene this year.

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Al Jazeera’s entertainment editor and DTFF executive director Amanda Palmer and the Doha Tribeca Film Festival team

It will feature 32 films from around the world, with a special emphasis on some of the great new filmmakers emerging from the Middle East.

This special edition of the Fabulous Picture Show is both a preview of the festival itself, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the DTFF is not just showcasing international cinema for four days, but is becoming a year-round cultural institution, dedicated to educating and encouraging the local community to make their own films – to tell their own stories.

The Making of Second Chance

The centrepiece of the DTFF’s community initiative is the one-minute movies by Qatari first-time filmmakers.

Award-winning filmmaker Scandar Copti (Ajami) explains the process of making one of those one-minute movies, Faisal Al Thani’s impressive Second Chance.

Even if you already understand the filmmaking process, there might something here to stir your own creative juices.

Part two:

Opening Night: Mira Nair’s Amelia

DTFF is proud to present the Middle East premiere of director Mira Nair’s Amelia, a portrait of 1930s aviator Amelia Earhart, starring two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank.

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Mira Nair and Hilary Swank – “Amelia”

Uniquely straddling the worlds of independent filmmaking (Salaam Bombay!, Monsoon Wedding) and Hollywood (Vanity Fair, Mississippi Masala), and often merging her Indian heritage with Western themes, Nair has become firmly established as one of the world’s most respected female directors. 

Nair speaks to FPS about her eclectic career and her film Amelia.

Preview: Doha Tribeca Film Festival   

While featuring the work of such certified auteurs as Steven Soderbergh, Jane Campion, Michael Moore, Spike Lee and the Coen Brothers, DTFF has from the beginning declared a commitment to the exciting new generation of Middle Eastern filmmakers who have been making waves at international festivals this year.

Ali Jaafar, the international editor of Variety, discusses some of the highlights, including Elia Suleiman’s The Time That Remains, Raja Amari’s Buried Secrets, and a special al fresco presentation of a newly restored version of the 1969 Egyptian classic The Mummy.

This episode of The Fabulous Picture Show can be seen from Thursday, October 22, 2009 at the following times GMT: Thursday: 0600 and 16:30 ; Friday:  01:30 and 0830; Saturday: 1130 and 2330; Sunday: 0630 and 2030; Monday: 1430; Tuesday: 1930; Wednesday: 0300.