(MENAFN- Arab Times) LOS ANGELES March 4 (RTRS): The Doha Film Institute has recruited a high-caliber roster of industry reps including Toronto topper Cameron Bailey Wild Bunch chief Vincent Maraval and prominent British indie producer Mike Downey for the imminent first edition of its Qumra event dedicated to fostering new Arab cinema which blends creative workshop industry networking and festival elements.
More than 100 industryites some from leading European and Asian fests including Cannes Venice Karlovy Vary Locarno Sarajevo and Busan are heading for Qumra along with sales company execs from outfits including Elle Driver Fortissimo Films Memento Films WIDE and Danny Glover''s New York-based Louverture Films repped by COO Joslyn Barnes. Also making the trek from New York will be Joana Vicente head of the Independent Filmmmakers Project (IFP). The innovative shindig is named after the Arabic word ''qumra'' from which the word ''camera'' is believed to have originated. As previously announced Gael Garcia Bernal; Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako (''Timbuktu''); Iranian actor Leila Hatami (''A Separation''); Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu (''4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days''); and Bosnian writer/director Danis Tanovic (''No Man''s Land'') are among ''Qumra Masters'' set to hold in-depth classes for young filmmakers. Twenty-nine participating projects have been picked either among DFI grant recipients or Qatari projects otherwise supported by the DFI. Most are from the Arab world though several have US elements. Take Saudi director Faiza Ambah''s ''A Reverence for Spiders'' about a New York-based Imam who helps a dying Christian teen convert to Islam and plunges into a shattering scandal. Or Brooklyn-born Susan Youssef''s ''Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf'' about a Lebanese-American teen in Arkansas contending with her father being in jail on dubious terrorism charges. These are among the 19 projects in development. Others are in more advanced stages. Attending directors and producers will be networking in one-on-ones script consultations pitching sessions rough-cut screenings and feedback sessions. There will be exclusive presentations of 20-minute final cut screenings for fest programmers sales agents and distributors. The idea is to be both an incubator and a springboard for these projects mostly from the Arab world where filmmaking is not part of the culture. With Qumra Qatar is now basically aiming to become an Arab film industry driver in a new way. ''I am extremely encouraged by the support that has been shown by film professionals from all sectors of the industry for the first edition of Qumra'' enthused Doha Film Institute CEO Fatma Al Remaihi in a statement. ''Their immense generosity towards the new generation of filmmakers is invaluable and I am certain that the connections formed over the coming weeks will resonate far into the future for all of the participants'' she added. The first edition of Qumra will run March 6-11 in Doha. Feature films from 31 countries many of them about the struggles of everyday life and featuring stars such as Richard Gere James Franco and Dakota Fanning will be screened at the 14th Tribeca Film Festival. More than 6200 films from countries ranging from Costa Rica and Iceland to Albania and South Africa were submitted for the festival which runs from April 15 to 26. Half of its slate of 97 feature-length films including selections for the world narrative and documentary feature competitions and entries for its ''Viewpoints'' section were announced by organizers on Tuesday. ''We were inspired by and really admire the ambition and risk-taking of the filmmakers who are striving to capture the emotion and complexities of everyday life in this year''s submissions'' Frederic Boyer artistic director of the festival said in a statement. In ''Franny'' from director/writer Andrew Renzi Gere is a rich eccentric who gets involved in the lives of the daughter of a dead friend played by Fanning and her husband. Franco is a novelist suffering from writer''s block in the crime thriller ''The Adderall Diaries'' which also stars Amber Heard and Cynthia Nixon and is based on the best-selling memoir of the same name by Stephen Elliott. ''Meadowland'' with Olivia Wilde and Luke Wilson follows the strained relationship of a couple whose son goes missing. This year''s festival will open with the world premiere of ''Live from New York!'' about the NBC late night comedy sketch show ''Saturday Night Live.'' Films in the documentary competition include ''Havana Motor Club'' about drag racers preparing for a race in Cuba and ''In Transit'' which travels America''s busiest long-distance train route from Chicago to Seattle. ''Autism in Love'' tells the story of adults with the disorder and ''Thank You for Playing'' details a couple''s efforts to make a videogame about their son''s fight against cancer. The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2001 by actor Robert De Niro film producer Jane Rosenthal and investor Craig Hatkoff to revitalize the downtown New York neighborhood following the Sept 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. q q q Kirsten Tan''s ''Popeye'' Carlos Osuna''s ''The Contestant'' and Alberto Morais'' ''The Mother'' are three of 15 films selected for the Cannes Festival''s 2015 Cinefondation Atelier a showcase of up-and-coming talent worldwide. Launched in 2005 and now looking toward its 11th edition the Atelier a co-production and financing forum runs May 15-21 at the Cannes Film Festival where the 15 projects'' directors and producers will meet with potential co-production partners and sales agents. A drive to foster the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers the Atelier has seen an extraordinary success rate: Of the 156 projects presented at the Atelier in Cannes 103 have been made and released. A further 40 are in pre-production. The 2014 TorinoFilmLab top winner and sparking buzz ever since ''Popeye'' from Singapore''s Kirsten Tan is an unusual buddy movie: It turns on an ageing man who meets his long-lost elephant on the streets of Bangkok. The duo set off to return to the farm of their youth. Announced at last year''s Cannes as a Colombia (Malta)-Mexico (FilmTank)-Chile (Forastero) co-pro ''The Contestant'' (pictured) about a retiring 24-year-old who becomes the hero of street protests underscores ''the importance of social resentment as a potential force for change'' said director Osuna who made an auspicious debut with ''Fat Bald Short Man.'' Presented at June''s Small is Biutiful in Paris ''The Mother'' marks Spaniard Alberto Morais'' follow-up to ''Los chicos del Puerto.'' It tracks 14-year-old Miguel who battles at all costs to be reunited with his feckless single mother and not be sent back to a center for minors. Some projects at Atelier are more personal works. Moving between fiction and documentary and with significant dance elements ''Lands of Loneliness'' from Spain''s Meritxell Colell for example charts a woman''s return to her village roots. Most Atelier movies however and this has largely been the tone of the recent editions paint a troubled portrait of a contemporary or recent world ravaged by factors such as fanaticism repression unemployment drug abuse forced immigration or broken families. Brazilian Paula Un Mi Kim''s debut ''Butterfly Diaries'' is a ''90s-set Sao Paolo coming of age tale of drugs MTV and underage pregnancy ''The Road to Mandalay'' an illegal immigrants'' tale from Taiwan-based Burmese-Chinese Midi Z (''Ice Poison''). ''Comte des blessures'' the feature debut of France''s Morgan Simon and a Paris-set youth drama was a 2014 Prix Junior Screenplay Grand Jury Prize winner. Also seen at the TorinoFilmLab ''Pari'' from Greece''s Siamak Etemad centers on a devout Muslim''s search for her son in Athens; it becomes her journey toward freedom. Presented to an upbeat reaction at Karlovy Vary''s Pitch & Feedback forum ''Out'' unspools as an Eastern Europe road-movie co-produced out of Hungary and Slovakia and helmed by Hungary''s Gyorgy Kristof. Culture clash film ''Hilal Feza and Other Planets'' will be directed by Kutlug Ataman one of the Atelier''s relative veterans whose ''The Lamb'' played the 2014 Berlinale''s Panorama. Structured as a Portugal-Angola co-pro Joao Viana''s ''Our Madness'' centers on the daughter of Amilcar Cabral a founding father of Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde. Also in the mix: Italian Laura Luchetti''s ''Twin Flower'' which is set up at Giuseppe Gallo''s Picture Show; Romanian Ionut Pitirescu''s ''Borders''; ''The Tree'' from South Africa''s Louw Venter; and ''Soundless Dance'' directed by Sri Lanka''s Pradeepan Raveendran.
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