Manama: Palestinian filmmaker Han Abu Assad has been appointed President of the Jury for the 2010 Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) to be held from October 26-30.
Abu Assad will be the first Jury President of the festival launched last year and will preside over DTFF’s Arab Film Competition awarding prizes for Best Arab Film and Best Arab Filmmaker.
His 2006 film Paradise Now, about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Tel Aviv, won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign language film in 2006, the Golden Calf for best Dutch film, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Born in Nazareth, Palestine in 1961, Abu Assad studied technical engineering and worked as an airplane engineer in Europe before becoming a filmmaker. He then entered the world of cinema as a producer and produced the feature film Curfew, directed by Rashid Masharawi, in 1994, and in 1998 he directed his first film, The Fourteenth Chick, from a script by writer Arnon Grunberg.
Following this, Abu-Assad produced two documentaries, Nazareth 2000 and Ford Transit, in addition to a second feature film, Rana’s Wedding.
Abu Assad is currently working on several projects in Hollywood and plans to shoot his first English-language film in 2010.
"It is a great honour to be asked to head up the jury for the Doha Tribeca Film Festival," Abu Assad said. "It is an exciting time for filmmakers in the Middle East and this festival provides a unique opportunity to meet and showcase their work. I look forward, with my fellow jurors, to discovering some great films and filmmakers from our region and around the world."
DTFF Executive Director Amanda Palmer said that she was "delighted" that Abu Assad accepted the invitation to be our first Jury President.
"He epitomises the profound talent that exists in this region that our festival aims to not only promote on an international platform, but will inspire other Arab filmmakers to tell their stories. His work shows a distinct creativity and humanity which tells the stories of his own life, addresses cultural stereotypes and draws attention to important world issues," she said.
Organisers said that the second annual DTFF would build on the success of the inaugural Doha Tribeca Film Festival which showcased an international and diversely curated film programme with a focus on Arab cinema, public engagement through large community events, and educational filmmaking programmes.
In addition to the Arab Film Competition, the DTFF Festival will feature two audience awards, one for Best Narrative Film and the other for Best Documentary Film. The two Arab film competition prizes are each $100,000 and the audience awards each feature prizes of $100,000.
DTFF is a cultural partnership between the Doha Film Institute and Tribeca Enterprises, with both entities having the common aim of engaging the community and promoting filmmaking talent.
