And the numerous titles include the latest titles from Luca Guadagnino, Pablo Larraín, Mati Diop, Kevin Macdonald, Sam Mendes and Leos Carax — along with allowing the UK public to discover visionary up and coming filmmakers like Laila Abbas, Meryam Joobeur, Mo Harawe and Shiori Ito.
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A historic first prize for Moroccan cinema, at this year's Marrakech Film Festival
After all was said and done, there were no losers at this year’s Marrakech International Film Festival, where audiences got a free taste of great cinema and Moroccan films made history.
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Me after my nightmare trip… NO! Just kidding, it’s Iggy Pop in a still from ‘The Dead Don’t Die’.
The Cannes 2019 Diaries: 'The Dead Don't Die', they land at Nice airport though!
Yes, there was a flash taxi strike at the airport in Nice yesterday, just as my flight was getting in. No, they were not prepared for an action by all taxi drivers to block the roads accessing the airport, so no vehicle of any sort could get in or out of the airport. Yes, there is a tramway track recently built which reaches terminal 3 but no, there was no tram traveling on it. So everyone had to walk for miles, with luggage in tow, under the sweltering sun, to reach an overcrowded train, through overpasses and station underpasses (read: lots and lots of stairs) mimicking the zombies in Jim Jarmusch’s Cannes opening night film.
Welcome to the glamorous life of a journalist covering the Festival de Cannes! If I hear one more time what a wonderful opportunity it is for me to be doing what I do, I’ll strangle someone. Then, I might actually begin to get the attention I deserve.
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The Qumra Diaries: The life lessons learned and great persons met, thanks to the Doha Film Institute
As of my very first steps at this year's Qumra, around the Souq Waqif, spent inside the Date Market fair and eating a bowl of fragrant Moroccan fava bean soup at a nearby restaurant, to my very last moments wandering inside the Hamad International Airport drinking an espresso with a fellow journalist, Doha gave me the very best she has to offer. And that's pretty darn sensational in a country that can count culture, fashion and heritage at the top of its list of priorities.
From the brand new, still partly in construction National Museum of Qatar rising out of the sands, and shaped like a Desert Rose, the crystallized rock that is formed when lighting hits the dunes, to the institution of the Museum of Islamic Art, where most of the Qumra events and masterclasses are held, to the leisurely, harass-free environment of the Souq itself, I felt like I was being coddled in a cocoon of culture and learning, one that would definitely remain with me for months to come.
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Gianfranco Rosi gave a Masterclass at this year's Qumra
The Qumra Diaries: Wisdom from the Masters with Tilda Swinton and Gianfranco Rosi
The greatness of Qumra, the annual industry event held by the Doha Film Institute to help connect, inspire and encourage filmmakers, lies in its diversity of activities. From the daily working breakfasts with some of the most well-respected festival directors and programmers, sales agents and producers to the Masterclasses with cinema greats, from its Qumra Talks to the networking sessions held each afternoon just around the corner from my hotel, there is a buzz of activity at any given moment and even a non-filmmaker like me can feel the excitement of great cinema in the making.
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Tilda Swinton photographed by Brigitte Lacombe
Iconic Masters and golden projects featured at this year's Qumra in Doha
Qatar is the couture state of the Arab world. They watched and learned from the mistakes of all the other Gulf countries that were declared as states before them, and then Qatar set about to reinvent how we view culture, fashion, art and film. You can't watch an award ceremony these days without the presence for the Doha Film Institute in the credits of at least one of the films nominated, the Museum Authority of the peninsular state has assembled and created, and is set to unveil more beauty than my eyes can hold -- just a visit to the Islamic Art Museum will confirm my words -- and of course, the Emir's family owns some of the fashion world's most beloved brands.
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Claudia Cardinale © Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/Getty Images
Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson and More: What I Learned from the Stars in Cannes
While in Cannes, I also wanted to find some answers to my own doubts, answers on how to combat the virus of fake news, how to achieve my true self and why movie theaters can never be replaced by a computer.
I found my answers in the stars. The movie stars.
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