What’s on

Amelia
The opening film at this year’s Doha Tribeca Film Festival is yet to be released, and it’s already stirred up Oscar murmurings. Directed by Mira Nair (best known for Salaam Bombay! and Monsoon Wedding) and based on a script written by Ronald Bass, Amelia is a biopic of the life of female pilot Amelia Earhart, played by Hilary Swank. Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor and Virginia Madsen also star. Earhart, the first woman to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic, disappeared during a 1937 flight over the Pacific Ocean. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance have been shrouded in conspiracy theories ever since. If Swank’s exceptional performances in Boy’s Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby are anything to go by, this will be an unmissable screening.

About Elly
After many years living in Germany, Ahmad returns to Iran to hook up with a bunch of old pals from university for a jaunt to the banks of the Caspian Sea. The eccentric Sepideh has decided to play Cupid and brought along Elly, her daughter’s kindergarten teacher, with the plan to set her up with the recently divorced Ahmad. Everything seems to be going well when an incident occurs and Elly disappears. Suddenly, the harmony breaks down, panic sets in and friendships are strained. About Elly won the Silver Bear Award at the 59th International Berlin Film Festival and the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 8th Tribeca Film Festival.

Road, Movie
Vishnu is a restless young man gripped by the desire to escape his father’s faltering business. His ticket to freedom appears in the form of an old truck, which he offers to deliver to a museum where it is being sold. As he sets off across the country, he discovers he’s not merely transporting a battered vehicle, but an old touring cinema. Road, Movie follows Vishnu’s journey and the memorable characters he meets along the way; a garrulous old entertainer, a striking gypsy woman, corrupt cops and a notorious water lord. Directed by Dev Benegal, the film is typical of his style in that it is full of humourous characters, combining Indian narrative and Western genre. The director has already won seven international awards, and his were the first Indian films to be distributed to theatrical success by 20th Century Fox.

Team Qatar: Up For Debate
Five teens, all living in Qatar, but each from a different background, journey to Washington DC, joining others of a similar age from around the world to compete in the intensely competitive World Schools Debating Championships. It’s the first time Qatar sent students to compete, and they are the first debating team in the peninsula’s history. Team Qatar follows these determined youngsters, aged from 15 to 17, as they set their sights on winning the event. Director Liz Mermin has specialised in offbeat, social-issue documentary features about international subjects for many years. Previous films, including Shot in Bombay, Office Tigers and The Beauty Academy of Kabul, have played in festivals around the world. ‘Documentaries have a unique ability to humanise the unfamiliar,’ she says.