(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Internationally acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad has been appointed President of the Jury for the 2010 Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) which runs from October 26 to November 3.
Abu-Assad will be the first Jury President of the festival which held its inaugural event last year and will preside over DTFFs Arab Film Competition awarding prizes for Best Arab Film and Best Arab Filmmaker.
His 2006 film Paradise Now, about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Tel Aviv, won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign language film in 2006, won the Golden Calf for best Dutch film, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Abu-Assad is currently working on several projects in Hollywood and plans to shoot his first English-language movie in 2010.
Its a great honour to be asked to head up the jury for the Doha Tribeca Film Festival. Its an exciting time for filmmakers in the Middle East and this festival provides a unique opportunity to meet and showcase their work. I look forward, with my fellow jurors, to discovering some great films and filmmakers from our region and around the world, said Abu-Assad.
DTFF Executive Director Amanda Palmer said Abu-Assad epitomises the profound talent that exists in this region that the festival aims to not only promote on an international platform, but will inspire other Arab filmmakers to tell their stories.
His work shows a distinct creativity and humanity which tells the stories of his own life, addresses cultural stereotypes and draws attention to important world issues, said Palmer. In addition to the Arab Film Competition, the Festival will also feature two audience awards, one for Best Narrative Film and the other for Best Documentary Film. The two Arab film competition prizes are each 100,000 and the audience awards each feature prize monies of 100,000. Submission forms and complete information regarding eligibility for the 2010 Doha Tribeca Film Festival are available at www.dohatribecafilm.com.
Through Tribecas partnership with the Doha Film Institute, we have worked to create a festival that is unique, international in scope, yet reflective of the voices of the region, said Geoffrey Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer of Tribeca Enterprises.
Amanda Palmer, Executive Director for the Festival, along with Tribecas Chief Creative Officer Geoffrey Gilmore, will lead the 2010 programming team including Oscar nominated Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti, Lebanese programmer Hania Mroue and Tribecas David Kwok and Genna Terranova. Joining the team this year, Hania Mroue will play an important role in assessing submissions from Qatar and the Middle East. She has more than a decade of experience in film production and founded Metropolis, the first art-house cinema in Lebanons capital Beirut.
Throughout my work in the film industry, my focus has been embracing and giving a voice to Arab filmmakers. I am happy to be part of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival programming team, which has made great strides in providing a platform for regional films of international calibre. I am looking forward to this years edition and to showing the amazing work that is being produced by Arab filmmakers, said Mroue.
The inaugural Doha Tribeca Film Festival featured a diverse selection of 31 feature films from the Middle East and around the world.
