The trans-adapted version of The Idol (Palestine, Qatar, UK, The Netherlands), Palestine’s entry for the upcoming Oscars for ‘Best Foreign Language’ film, will be screened on Saturday at the fourth Ajyal Youth Film Festival at Katara – the Cultural Village.

Doha Film Institute (DFI) said that this version is the result of the collaboration with the Translation and Interpreting Institute of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU).
Students attending HBKU’s masters programme in audiovisual translation have created the audio description and enriched subtitles. The screening is at 4pm at Katara Drama Theatre.
Directed by Academy Award-nominated Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, the film brings to the screen the inspiring life story of ‘Arab Idol’ champion Mohamed Assaf.
DFI said celebration of cinema for the entire community continues at the festival today with the ‘Big and Tiny Cine-Concert’ to mark the screenings of short films for children.
Presented with Forum des Images, the Big and Tiny Cine-Concert is at noon at the Katara Drama Theatre. It features five short films for tiny tots, accompanied live by musicians Anthony Boulc’h and Fanch Minous.
The ‘Big and Tiny’ selection includes 5m80 (France) by Nicolas Deveaux about a group of giraffes having fun diving and swimming at the pool; Girafa (Russia) by Anastasiya Sokolova, where a donkey sets his eyes on a giraffe and falls head over heels; Hedgehug (US) by Dan Pinto that shows that love is not only patient and kind but also prickly for Hedgehug; Le Petit Hérisson partageur (France) by Marjorie Caup, about a little hedgehog that finds a magnificent apple in the woods; and The Tie (Belgium) by An Vrombaut about a young giraffe that meets an older one and despite the age difference become friends.
In the midnight screenings, audiences will be thrilled with Under the Shadow (Iran, UK, Jordan, Qatar), directed by Babak Anvari, screening at 11pm at Katara Drama Theatre. It is the UK’s entry for the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film.
DFI noted that it also has a delectable line-up of films that will delight children in the Bariq Shorts screening.
Tickets are priced QR25 for general screening and are available for purchase 24 hours a day at ajyalfilm.com or from the Ajyal Katara Main Box Office at Katara Building 12 or Ajyal FNAC Ticket Outlet, FNAC Qatar (at Lagoona Mall).
Katara is the cultural partner and Oxy Qatar is the principal partner for the 2016 edition of Ajyal while Qatar Tourism Authority is the signature partner this year.