Opening night of the third Doha Tribeca Film Festival and it was all about the boys.
Enjoying its world premiere, Jean Jacques Annaud's latest offering, Black Gold, proved a popular choice as the first gala screening as inside, at the Katara Opera House, a sell-out audience took their seats.
Meanwhile, outside an impressive number of the cast of Annaud's sweeping historical epic, part of which was filmed in Qatar, turned out to support the French film maker
Frieda Pinto played the token glamour card, stunning audiences in a fushsia pink gown, but it was the male characters of film who stole the show.
Algerian-French Tahar Rahim, who plays the lead opposite Pinto, said he was "overwhelmed" by the support from the people of Doha. "I feel like everyone has been involved in this film and everyone has got behind it. I am so happy."
Wearing Yves Saint Laurent, the 30-year-old, took the red carpet like a duck to water, chatting to journalists and signing autographs for the hundreds of local fans who arrived to catch a glimpse of the stars.
Rahim was joined by fellow cast members Akin Gazi, Jan Uddin (wearing Roberto Cavali) and Mark Strong, as well as Annaud, producer Tarek Ben Ammar and James Horner who wrote the musical score.
"I haven't seen the film in full," said Strong. "I am very excited and cannot wait to watch it with an audience."
While the boys had the media in a frenzy, Pinto posed for photos before making a sharp exit stage left firmly holding the hand of her boyfriend Dev Patel. Pinto then left the theatre five minutes into the premiere and left in a car for the airport.
