An amazing display of fireworks, a performance by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) and a parade of international celebrities will mark the opening of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) today. Culminating a year of planning, the festival will begin with a screening of the movie Amelia by Mira Nair, which will be shown on a 24-metre-wide screen put up on the huge open-air auditorium constructed on the grounds of the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). More than 3,000 guests are expected to make their way to the MIA for the opening night of the festival. They will be welcomed by a performance by the QPO of highlights from classic cinema scores. VIPs will be walking on a 17-metre-long digital red carpet to make their way to the MIA, where a theatre has been constructed inside the gallery with around 313 general seating. An Emiri Box, which will seat 16 people, has also been constructed for the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, members of the ruling family and special guests. H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who brought about the DTFF, will join the rest of the guests outside the museum after greeting the VIPs inside the gallery. She will be giving a speech before the film will be shown. International filmmakers and celebrity guests who have arrived for the event include legendary director Martin Scorsese, Academy Award-winning actors Sir Ben Kingsley and Robert De Niro, a co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, and Egyptian screen sensation Youssra. Due to limited space, parking will not be permitted at the MIA. Free parking will be available at Al Isteklal (Civil Defence) roundabout and festival shuttles will run to and from the MIA from 3.45pm to 12.30am at regular intervals. Taxi cabs are allowed to stop near the grounds of the MIA. The festival, a partnership between the Qatar Museums Authority and Tribeca Enterprises in New York, will run until November 1. In its inaugural year, Qatar’s first international film festival will celebrate the best of Arabic and international cinema. Its ongoing aim will be to inspire, engage and educate a new generation of cinema appreciation locally; discover, mentor and fund regional filmmaking talent; foster a community through art and entertainment; and encourage open discussion and debate. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=October2009&file=Local_News2009102971918.xml

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