Fans spoilt for choice at Ajyal film fest

Doha, Dec 2 - Ajyal Film Festival has been offering a mixture of family fare, animated features and documentaries as well as a special programme for differently-abled cinemagoers. Hosting Arab and international film stars, the event offers a chance for global experience and knowledge-sharing. Kaya Scodelario, an English actress, expressed her joy for taking part in this event, which she calls “educational and impressive”. “It is wonderful how the country is investing in the next generation. Children now have an opportunity to see every side of film-making. I wish I had that (opportunity) when I was a kid.” Looking for Oum Kulthum director Shirin Neshat sets out to examine the life and legacy of legendary Egyptian singer, who was an icon of mid-century Arab culture and the and voice of the Arab World for many. Rather than exploring a figure of such magnitude directly, Neshat takes the wider view, resulting in a film that is much more than a standard biopic. This 90-minute film, featured as Ajyal Special Screening, was showed on Saturday along with the other international short and feature films. The At Eye Level tells the story of ten-year-old Michi, who has grown up without his father. After his mother dies, Michi finds an unsent letter announcing her pregnancy, addressed to a man called ‘Tom’ but when the father and son are reunited, Tom isn’t exactly the person Michi imagined him to be. The film is directed by Joachim Dollhopf and Evi Goldbrunner. The Seventh Summit tells the dramatic and inspiring story of Sheikh Mohammed al Thani, avid mountaineer and the first Qatari to reach the summit of Mount Everest, and his fellow climbers, including Palestinian climber, Suzanne al Houby, as they attempt to climb Alaska’s Mount Denali. The team’s goal is to claim one of the toughest mountaineering titles, the Seven Summits Challenge, gained after climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents. To date, fewer than 350 people have succeeded in doing it. The film is directed by Elia Youssef. The festival provides a wide range of family activities. Also there is Geekdom, a pop culture feast of comics, cosplay, movies, TV series and video games and LeBlockade, a multimedia celebration of Qatar’s cultural resilience. Zainab al Nassri