Doha, Nov 30: Indian voice and Afghani music have given the Ajyal Youth Film Festival a
rousing start in the Qatari capital.
The fifth edition of the influential youth film festival
opened last night with the screening of the critically-acclaimed animated film
‘The Breadwinner’, executive-produced by Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie.
Indian-origin Canadian teenager Saara Chaudry lends voice to
the lead character in the film, which features a song composed and performed by
Afghan-origin musician Qais Essar.
‘The Breadwinner’, premiered at the Toronto film festival in
September, tells the story of Parvana, an 11-year-old girl who disguises as a
boy to work and feed her family after her father is taken away by the Taliban.
The film is adapted from a novel of the same title by
Canadian author Deborah Ellis.
Both Chaudry and Essar were feted by the festival, which is
screening over 100 films, more than half of them by women filmmakers.
‘The Breadwinner’ was screened to a packed opening night audience
at the festival venue, the Katara cultural village in Doha.
“It was an incredible experience playing the role of the
brave Parvana,” said Chaudry, 13, who read the book on which the film is based
on when she was only nine.
The families of Chaudry’s parents, who live in Toronto, had
moved abroad from India decades ago.
Afghan-origin musician Essar performed ‘The Crown Sleeps’,
his song from ‘The Breadwinner’ at the opening night of the Ajyal festival.
“It is Indian classical music, in ‘Raag Charukeshi’,” said
Essar, referring to the Carnatic music roots of his own composition.
At the Ajyal festival, Essar played the ‘Rabab’, a Sarod-like
Afghani string instrument, accompanied by American musician Eric Zanger,
enthralling festival delegates and cinema lovers.
The six-day festival also has films from at least one Indian
director and another Indian filmmaker based in Qatar.
‘Aamer’, a short film by Mumbai-based Amira Bhargava, is
about a hearing impaired boy, who sells flowers in the streets.
When his mother gifts him a hearing aid, unable to adjust to
the unpleasant sounds, his world goes upside down.
‘Walls’, a 12-minute film by Doha-based Nibu Vasudevan, deals
with a decaying world.
Part of the ‘Made in Qatar’ section of the festival, the
film’s music is also composed by a Qatar-based Indian, Aby Salvin Thomas.
“Films made by from Qatari directors and expatriate
filmmakers are today reaching a global audience,” said Ajyal festival director
Fatma Al Remaihi.
The festival, which traditionally has a jury composed only of
children and young adults from around the world, will also screen a documentary
on the origin of circus in Nepal.
‘Even When I Fall’, directed by British filmmakers Sky Neal
and Kate McLarnon, tells the story of Nepalese children sold to Indian circuses
returning home to start their own circus group.
“The fifth edition of the festival marks a milestone in our
journey in presenting a one-of-a-kind film event in the (Middle East) region
that puts young people at the heart of its story,” said Al Remaihi, also the
CEO of the Doha Film Institute.
Another highlight of the festival this year is an exhibition
of the works of 18 filmmakers and 12 artists, based on the blockade of Qatar by
its neighbours Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain, as well as Egypt, which began
nearly six months ago. UNI
