Ajyal Youth Film Festival begins

BY RAYNALD C RIVERA
DOHA: The inaugural Ajyal Youth Film Festival, presented by Doha Film Institute (DFI), struck positive note on its opening night as filmmakers, actors and guests on the red carpet expressed optimism about the impact of the unique festival. 
“This festival is an excellent idea that will have positive impact on children and the cinema industry in the future,” said the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari.
The festival is very important as it screens films catered particularly for children, keeping them away from films which could have negative effect on their behaviour, he added.
Uzma Hasan, Executive Producer of the film Flying Paper, thought DFI had initiated a ‘brilliant festival’.
“It’s really a great idea if you start making children interested in cinematic language so we have a more informed audience,” said Hasan, whose movie is set to have its Mena premiere at the festival.
“I’m so delighted to have our Middle East premiere in this festival in Doha. It really belongs to the Ajyal festival. It’s critical to have the story disseminated very widely and I’m hoping through this festival we will even get more exposure all around the Middle East and around the world. I think it’s great to start showing it to kids because they can relate to this film very well,” said Flying Paper Director Nitin Sawhney.
The documentary on children in Gaza, humanises the conflict by looking at kite culture as a form of creative resistance.
“We wanted to tell the story about their dreams and aspirations. We wanted to capture the story of the simple act of making and flying kites and how that can be a form of freedom of resilience, of breaking out of the occupation they dream about,” added Sawhney.
Stefan Collier, lead actor of Regret, said he hoped people would like his movie as they could relate to its theme which is bullying — a huge dilemma young people face around the world. 
About the situation in Iran, Maziar Miri, director of The Painting Pool, said there had been good times and tough times, “but it seems there are new windows opening to the people of Iran and the Iranian cinema.
“We pray that it’s going to be better than the previous years. And we hope that we can talk through the cinema with a new language which is peace and friendship to the whole world.” Among the guests on the red carpet were Mahmoud Asfa, Maria Peters, Dave Schram, Rick Lens, Pascal Plisson, Jackson Moloiyan Saikong, Salome, Nasieku Saikong, Zahira Badi, Tareq Al Ali, Haya Al Shuaibi, Sultan Al Ali, Abdulnasser Al Zayer, Huda Hussain, Abdulrahman Alaqel, Ali Al Rayes, Shirin Neshat, Hadya Said, Ghazi Hussain, Noura Hassan, Salah Al Mulla, Saad Burshaid, Abdulla Al Mosallam, Abdulaziz Ahmed, Dana An Natsheh and Amal Al Muftah. 
People in costumes representing characters from anime films participating in the festival also walked the red carpet. It was followed by the screening of critically acclaimed anime film The Wind Rises by renowned Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, which marked its Mena premiere.
Sixty-five films from 30 countries, an extensive programme of industry and community events, and five days of film, art and cultural activities are among the highlights of the five-day festival. The Peninsula