Tickets in high demand for today’s screenings Thursday, 28 October 2010 06:43

Doha: Tickets are selling out fast for key titles screenings today at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival as cinema-goers pack their schedules with new comedies and some thought provoking films screening in World Panorama and the Arab Competition.

With comedy a major theme at this year’s Festival, tickets are also flying fast for World Panorama selection Potiche, acclaimed writer/director François Ozon’s screwball comedy about a charming trophy wife who must take over her husband’s business, has its Qatar premiere today. The film screens at City Center and the Villagio Cinemas.

Also with a comic twist, world renowned Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s comic-drama Certified Copy, set in Italy’s scenic Tuscany region, also has its Qatar premiere today with a red carpet screening of the film to be attended by star William Shimell.

Jury Member Nick Moran’s inspirational new film The Kid, which depicts a young man’s escape from his poor, brutal upbringing to becoming a bestselling author has its Middle East premiere tomorrow in World Panorama, screening at City Center. Moran will attend the festival along with stars Jodie Whittaker and Con O’Neill.

Staying on the comedy theme, Stephen Frears’ comedic-drama Tamara Drewe starring Gemma Arterton follows the romantic adventures of a young journalist who returns home to sell the house she has inherited from her late mother. The Qatar premiere screens tonight at a late night screening from 11pm in World Panorama at City Center.

Tickets are also in high demand for Meek’s Cutoff, the story of three young couples and their children along the Oregon Trail to the new frontier of America’s West directed by Kelly Reichardt screening at the Villagio and City Center. Shahada director Burhan Qurbani’s exploration of the fates of three German-born Muslims in contemporary western society to be attended by director Qurbani, actress Maryam Zarre and producer Leif Alexis, and compelling documentary My Perestroika, filmmaker Robin Hessman’s exploration of the myths and realities of the former USSR through the eyes of five children who grew up during the Cold War which makes its Middle East premiere at City Center with director Hessman and producer Garret Savage in attendance.

Also screening as part of this year’s Arab Competition is The Quarter of Scarecrows, filmmaker Hassan Ali Mahmood’s powerful allegory about tyranny which was inspired by the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran in which millions of innocent civilians died. The film screens at City Center this evening.

The Peninsula