culTure caPiTal
ashraf farah
from shadow To sTardom By Ahmad Lotfy
a
rmed with his obsession of traditional theatre and his dream of reaching new territories on the map of Arab cinema, the hero of Pomegranates and Myrrh finally landed in Doha. Palestinian actor Ashraf Farah joined forces with Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) to nurture the culture of film here. Through the acting workshops he offers under the umbrella of Doha Film Institute, an affiliate to DTFF, Farah spares no effort to make the dreams of hopeful youngsters come true. Farah is a theatre old hand with ten years of diverse credits, spanning Palestine, Jordan, Syria and recently Qatar. And from theatre and a modeling career, he signed up to cinema, TV series and commercials, and really made a mark. His first main role in award-winning, though highly controversial, Pomegranates and Myrrh was not a mere reward for him when harsh critique ensued. After all, “this is inevitable, you can’t appeal to all views. This is cinema,” he believes. Qatar Today met with the thesp.
How did your association with DTFF start and what are you up for? Immediately after the recognition of Pome-
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granates and Myrrh in the Dubai Film Festival, I received an offer to come to Doha and take part in the budding project. Scandar Copti introduced me to the team here, and we agreed on organising acting workshops for aspiring youngsters. To my surprise, the interest in learning cinematography here is huge. As far as I can tell, 80% of the youngsters I met are willing to do a cinema activity – be it shooting, editing, acting, logistics... etc. This gives great prospect to the future of cinema in Qatar, and I hope the courses offered now by me and my colleagues help nurture that culture.
Some filmmakers consider Tribeca as the Qatar version of the film festivals of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. How do you perceive it?
DTFF is a young festival by all measures. The whole project is modern and dynamic, it feels different. When you go to wellestablished cinema events the world over, let’s say the Berlin Festival, everything is rigid, clear and specific. The same may apply to the Cairo Film Festival, but here you can’t predict what’s going to happen. That is awesome.
Has Pomegranates and Myrrh been
a twist or a turning point in your career?
I did theatre for over eight years, playing a variety of roles with varying intensities and moods. This set up my deep association with live performance. Theatre is a journey you start off and finish it at one go, say after 90 minutes. Cinema is different. On the red carpet of the Dubai Film Festival, I was shaking and nervous. Pomegranates and Myrrh acquainted me with spotlight and intensive media presence. The film opened doors to new proposals from several producers. This year, I did two series Balquees and The First Love, to be broadcasted on MBC soon. Balquees, the story of a historical queen who lived in Yemen, will be the grandest Arab production of a TV historical piece.
What did you miss in theatre over two years of exclusive cinema and TV production? In cinema, everything is planned. Actions can be refined and enhanced. As much as this adds quality, it takes away the lure of actors, the simultaneous interaction and appreciation.
Back to Pomegranates and Myrrh.
Qatar Today November 10
11/1/10 7:58:04 PM