Saeed Dahri - Doha
The winners of the "Made in Qatar" competition, organized by the Doha Film Foundation on the sidelines of the sixth edition of the Ajyal Film Festival, were announced in Doha, Qatar on Sunday evening.
"Shehab" won the best short feature film, "Just a Memory" by Maryam Al-Zahbani won the Best Short Documentary, and Mohammed Al-Mahmoud's "Space Nasser" won the Special Rulers Award.
Fatima Al Nahdi won the award for best performance in the film "Qabab" by director Nof Al-Sulaiti, which is presented for the first time in the festival in recognition of the late Qatari artist Abdul Aziz Jassem.
Shehab tells the story of a young girl who sneaks into her father's boat after evening to search for some stars after hearing the falling stars.
"Nasa Nasir" revolves around Nasser, a creative child who tries to cope with the separation of his parents by escaping to a fictional place he creates in his imagination, while "Just a Memory" explores the nature of emotions when war breaks out.
| A Scene from Chehab's Best Short Feature Film (Al Jazeera) |
Mental suffering
Maryam Al-Zahbani, winner of the Best Short Documentary Award, told Al-Jazeera Net that her high-profile film highlights psychological suffering while experiencing the state of war, pointing out that this is her first directing attempt, and was crowned in this youth film festival.
She is looking to end the war in Yemen, her native country, based on the role of the film because of the impact of the seventh art on the viewer in the delivery of the message, noting that she was able to obtain a grant from the Doha Film Foundation for photography inside Yemen.
Fatima Al Rumaihi, CEO of the Doha Film Foundation and director of the Ajyal Film Festival, called on filmmakers to continue their creative efforts, as the success journey began to feature prominently in the works.
The jury of the "Made in Qatar" program included Turkish actress Tuba Onsal, Qatari Academy Amal Mohammed Al Malki and Irish filmmaker Colin McAfee. The committee, in its report, highlighted the distinction between storytelling and competing films.
| Winners of the Made in Qatar Competition (Al Jazeera) |
Spatial frame
In this context, Al-Maliki said that the victory of the film "Shihab" is based on the success of the director in presenting the story on a charming background, and the combination of spatial and temporal framework, with a nostalgia for the past beautiful.
Commenting on the movie "Just a Memory," Colin McGover said the film is rich in human emotion that deals with conflict and loss using live projection and soundboards to highlight the troubled emotions internally and externally.
Turkish actress Tuba Onsal described the film "Nasir Nasir" as extraordinary, as he managed to depict the world in the imagination of a child through animation in a beautiful and creative manner.
"Made in Qatar" saw 16 short films signed by young Qatari directors and residents of the country.