Ten films supported by the Doha Film Institute (DFI) have been selected to screen at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival, from September 1 to 11.

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One of the largest selections of films funded by DFI to be shown at the festival, the diverse line up includes six exciting works from the Arab world, including the first-ever Yemeni film selected for the official shorts category.

Continuing to build on DFI’s track record of showcasing Arab talent to an international audience, Shaima al-Tamimi sets history as the director of the first Yemeni film – Don’t Get Too Comfortable – selected for competition at an international film event.

“We are incredibly proud to showcase 10 films backed by DFI at the Venice Film Festival this year, underlining our commitment to support emerging Arab talent and filmmakers from across the globe. The selection includes thought-provoking works by new voices in global cinema and established names that offer fresh perspectives on life that reflect human hopes, aspirations, and challenges,” DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said.

Competing in the Festival’s Orizzonti segment are three DFI supported films: Atlantide (Italy, France, Qatar) by Italian director Yuri Ancarani, 2020 Spring Grants recipient, that follows three young men who find an interest in small fast boats and drive the audience through a summer of dreams and nightmares; Kavich Neang’s debut film and 2020 Spring Grants recipient White Building (Cambodia, France, China, Qatar) explores the life-changing moments of a young man from Phnom Penh, from the demolition of his lifelong home to societal pressures; and 2020 Fall Grant recipient Kiro Russo’s El Gran Movimiento (Bolivia, France, Switzerland, Qatar). Set in contemporary Bolivia, the film follows Elder and his companions who arrive in La Paz after a seven-day walk as they seek to be reinstated at the local mine. Premiering in the Orizzonti Shorts Film Competition, 2020 Fall Grant recipient, al-Tamimi’s Don’t Get Too Comfortable (Yemen, UAE, USA, Netherlands, Qatar), contemplates the continuous pattern of movement amongst Yemenis in the diaspora and highlights the collective feeling of statelessness and belonging by migrants through introspective letters written to her grandfather. The 2021 Venice Film Festival’s new sidebar programme, Orizzonti Extra, features two DFI-backed projects: opening film Land of Dreams (USA, Germany, Qatar) by Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari; and 2018 Fall Grants recipient, Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava (Lebanon, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Qatar).

Diana El Jeiroudi’s Republic of Silence (Syria, Germany, France, Qatar), a 2016 Fall Grants recipient, premieres in the official out of competition segment.

Two DFI supported films have been selected for the Final Cut, a Venice Production Bridge initiative that supports projects from African and Arab countries: Under The Fig Trees (Tunisia, Switzerland, Qatar, France) by 2021 Spring Grants 2021 recipient Erige Sehiri; and The Mother of All Lies (Morocco, France, Qatar) by 2019 Spring Grants recipient Asmae El Moudir.

Syrian screenwriter, director, and 2019 Spring Grants recipient, Ameer Fakher Eldin, competes in Gionarte Degli Autori, an independent sidebar at the festival with The Stranger (Syria, Qatar) that follows Adnan, a young man returning home against the will of his father after unsuccessfully studying medicine in the former Soviet Union. ✤