9th Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival Kicks Off

Doha, April 18 (QNA) - Under the Auspices of HE Sheikh Hamad bin Thamir Al Thani, the Chairman of Al-Jazeera Media Network, the 9th Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival started today at Doha Sheraton Hotel with the participation of 205 documentaries from 33 countries. The opening ceremony of the festival was attended by HE the Minister of Culture Arts and Heritage Dr. Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, HE the CEO of Qatar Media Corporation Mubarak bin Jaham Al-Kuwari, HE the Manager-General of Al-Jazeera Network and a number of Sheikhs and ambassadors accredited to Qatar. This year's festival, titled "Windows" will continue until Sunday with the participation of 205 films, including 23 long, and 82 medium, 53 short films, 36 films competing in the"New Horizon" context, in addition to 11 promising films. The guest list this year includes artistic and literary figures from various countries, namely Egyptian artist Imaan Al-Bahr Darwish, Iraqi poet Abdulrazak Abdulwahid, Palestinian novelist Ibrahim Nasrallah and Egyptian scenarist Mahfouz Abdulrahman and Abdulrahim Kamal. In his keynote speech, HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, Director General of the Al Jazeera Media Network, said that Al-Jazeera International Festival of Documentary Film is a window through which the world overlooks human creativity. This festival comes to increase humanitarian acquaintance, as it aims mainly to address the viewers' minds and raise consciousness, he added pointing out that Al-Jazeera International Festival of Documentary Film has succeeded in becoming an event awaited by documentaries' producers and filmmakers all over the world.(QNA)