Third Edition of the Festival to run October 25 – 29, 2011
Cannes – May 13th, 2011 – The Doha Film Institute (DFI) today announced that Arabian epic Black Golddirected by Jean-Jacques Annaud will make its world premiere at the 2011 Doha Tribeca Film Festival(DTFF), which is scheduled to run October 25 – 29, 2011 at Katara Cultural Village.
Co-produced with Quinta Communications, Black Gold is the first major international co-production for DFI and Qatar. Starring Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Tahar Rahim, Mark Strong, Riz Ahmed and Liya Kebede, the film is an epic adventure adaptation of Hans Reusch’s classic novel The Great Thirst. The film’s prominent battle scenes were shot in the spectacular desert dunes of Mesaieed and Shamal, in Qatar – over a four week period.
“DTFF 2011 is the perfect launching platform for Black Gold,” commented H.E. Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousuf Al Thani, Festival Board Member.
“Not only did the film’s production mobilise various national industry sectors and engage the Qatari public, but it strengthened DFI and Qatar’s experience and know-how to build the beginnings of a dynamic local film industry. Seeing these developments embodied in a major motion picture will give local audiences a rich insight into the progress being made in establishing Qatar as a global film hub.”
DFI Executive Director, Amanda Palmer, added: “DFI and Quinta Communications are delighted to be premiering the film before local audiences at this year’s festival and would like to thank the people of Qatar for their continued support. We are increasingly empowering local storytellers and working harder than ever to build a long-term film industry in Qatar, and I think festival attendees will see this reflected throughout this year’s festival in content, programming and the various events that we hold.”
Tarak Ben Ammar, CEO of Quinta Communications, said: “Black Gold has been my dream project for more than 30 years. I am delighted that the film will now receive its world premiere in Qatar given that it was my meeting with Sheikha Mayassa six years ago which helped turn this dream into a reality,” said Tarak Ben Ammar, CEO of Quinta. “Our relationship with the Doha Film Institute is far more than a financial deal. We share a real common view on the kind of films we want to make together and the way we both want to build our countries up in terms of film infrastructure, opportunities and a highly skilled workforce.”
Since its inception, DFI’s successful cultural partnership with Tribeca Enterprises has enabled it to create a uniquely Qatari, community-minded platform for the expression, exposure and celebration of both Arab and international films.
