Doha Film Institute to Unveil New Festival Format at Cannes 2013

Doha, April 30 (QNA) - Doha Film Institute (DFI) will reveal a new format for its film festival at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in May, it said in a press release issued Tuesday announcing the conclusion of DFI's cultural partnership with Tribeca Enterprises, a diversified global media company based in New York City. DFI CEO Abdulaziz Al-Khater said the DFI-Tribeca Enterprises partnership has achieved the Institute's goal of "creating a vibrant grassroots film industry in Qatar" over the past four editions of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival. "We are thankful to Tribeca Enterprises for their invaluable insights that helped elevate the film festival initiative of DFI to a truly global level. It was a rewarding experience to work with Tribeca Enterprises, and we will draw on this rich learning to create a new format for DFI's film festival initiatives starting this year." "With DFI having successfully formed strong community and industry bonds, the new festival format will build on the passion for filmmaking from talent in the region and around the world. We are defining a new niche for the film festival, which will serve as a platform for strengthening a home-grown film industry as well as continuing to build our international relationships to promote Qatar as a cultural hub," added Al-Khater. Through its partnership with DFI, Tribeca Enterprises aimed to launch an event that establishes "a sustainable foundation for the growth of a film community and industry in Qatar and the Middle East," the company said in a statement, adding that it shares with DFI the common goal of engaging, entertaining and inspiring in a region with "a profound and growing interest" in the film industry. "After four years of successful cultural partnership, the festival has grown immensely and reflects our mutual vision for an event to promote cultural understanding and community through film and education. We are proud of everything DFI and Tribeca have achieved together, and we wish DFI the very best as they move forward with their festival and year-round initiatives," said the Tribeca Enterprises statement. (QNA)