A still from the ‘Sea Shadow’.
DOHA: Some of the best films produced in the Gulf region will be screened throughout the year with the launch of Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) ‘Hekayat Khaleejia’ (Khaleeji Stories), a year-round film appreciation programme for the community.
The series is aimed at promoting film appreciation and helping encourage film production in Qatar and throughout the Gulf region.
Taking place at the Museum of Islamic Art every three months, ‘Hekayat Khaleejiya’ will present films that are accompanied by a Q&A session with the filmmakers, giving audiences the chance to gain insight into their work and creative process.
Nawaf Al Janahi’s ‘Sea Shadow’ will launch the series on January 17 and 18 and the screening will be followed by an extended Q&A session with director Nawaf Al Janahi and screenwriter Mohammed Hassan Ahmed.
Set in a small seaside neighbourhood in the United Arab Emirates, ‘Sea Shadow’ follows teenagers Mansour and Kaltham as they struggle with the restraints of tradition in their journey towards adulthood. Bound by family conventions and deep-rooted values, the pair must find the courage to forge their own paths.
Nawaf Al Janahi is an Emirati actor and a film director.
His first feature length film, ‘The Circle’, has screened since April 2009 at many film festivals around the globe, and was described by film critics as “a major turning point in Emirati and Gulf cinema”. Al Janahi’s second feature film ‘Sea Shadow’ had its world premiere at Abu Dhabi Film Festival (2011), and was then released in cinemas across the Arabian Gulf on November 17, 2011.
Competing with Hollywood blockbusters, the film reached the second position among the top five movies in UAE during its first week, the biggest cinema market in the Arab world.
Fatma Al Remaihi, Head of Outreach Programmes said: “We are pleased to have started a wonderful new series that will shed the light on great Khaleeji films. It is our duty to bring the best films to Qatar’s community and showcase works made by GCC filmmakers for local and international audiences. We all know how a film can easily disappear after a year of screening at festivals, and it’s our job at DFI to provide additional platforms for these regional films to be screened and enjoyed.”
The Peninsula
