Tribeca festival adds to Doha glitter

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Tribeca festival adds to Doha glitter

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29 October,2009 10:27 pm

Doha is getting ready to greet the stars. Robert DeNiro, Ben Kingsley and Mira Nair will walk the red carpet at Qatar's first major film festival, The Doha Tribeca Film Festival. The festival is based on a partnership between the Qatari government and New York's Tribeca Film Festival, which was founded by Robert DeNiro after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York. Thirty-three films are in the line-up, 12 of which have roots in the Middle East. Mira Nair's highly anticipated Amelia, will open the festival. Among the titles making their Middle Eastern premiere, include An Education, Harry Brown, Sin Nombre and The September Issue.Geoff Gilmore, the chief creative officer for Tribeca Enterprises and former director of the Sundance Film festival, says he thinks the line up at the inaugural event is top notch.Gilmore says the festival is a true cultural partnership and not about us bringing films from Tribeca to the gulf.Director Mira Nair's biopic about Amelia Earhart will be shown at an open air theater and will have a high-tech digital red carpet. Festival activities will include a series of panels aimed at fostering an active cinema-going culture as well as a film industry. Part of the program includes master classes featuring talks with film makers including Nair and Danny Boyle. Films will be screened at various outdoor locations, while festival activities will be held at the Islamic museum of Doha's I.M. Pei designed building. The festival will culminate with two special jury prizes of 50,000 dollars (USD), awarded to the best international film and the best Middle Eastern film. The Doha Tribeca Film Festival runs October 29-November 1st.