The Doha Film Institute (DFI) is presenting a new themed series for moviegoers in Qatar that celebrates the impact of costumes and fashion in films “to create meaningful cinema.”
Themed “Fashion in Film-Costume as Character,” the special series part of DFI Cinema is scheduled from April 20-24 at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) auditorium and includes a diverse line-up of films with question and answer sessions.
The series also includes an open air community engagement event and a masterclass that explores the relationship between fashion and film and its prominence in world cinema from the early days of moving images.
The screening programme will showcase a selection of regional and international films that have used costumes effectively to portray a certain period and time, and covers different genres including horror, romance, drama, thriller and animation.
The line-up includes Martin Scorceses’ The Age of Innocence, Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai, Stanley Donen’s Funny Face, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Qatar premiere of DFI grantee project, 3000 Nights by Mai Masri and an outdoor special screening of Walt Disney Studios classic Cinderella.
Each screening will be followed by an onstage question and answer session moderated by Stella Bruzzi.
Leading industry expert Stella Bruzzi will share her rich insights with audiences in Qatar at a masterclass on the growing prominence of costumes and fashion, its evolution over the years and its relevance in today’s world at the MIA on April 22.
The masterclass, themed ‘Costume in Cinema,’ explores costume as a classic tool for drawing character and narrative. It maps the intricacies of class, context or identity, and highlights the distinctive and important role played by costume in the movies using copious illustrative clips from a wide range of films.
Picking examples from Hollywood genres such as melodrama, romantic comedy and science fiction, alongside European art cinema, Bruzzi will analyse some of the distinctive ways in which costume and fashion have been used to construct meaning in cinema.
Films costume designer Hamada Attalah will be present at the screening to share the creative brief and his approach to the design process.
He has also designed the costumes for some of the most talked about Arab films recently including Hany Abu-Assad’s Omar, When I Saw You by Annemarie Jacir and the region’s first psycho-thriller
Zinzana by Majid al-Ansari.  
DFI is inviting families to bring their children dressed as princesses and prince charming, as a tribute to the globally loved characters of Cinderella at this special family screening event at 7.30pm on April 23.
DFI’s Thematic Series, part of DFI Cinema, is aimed at strengthening appreciation for the arts and contributing to the evolution of Qatar’s rich cultural fabric.
The programme offers audiences in Doha an opportunity to view films that may not necessarily reach commercial cinemas, and exposes them to new tastes and to filmmaking communities that deserve recognition for their immense talent and diversity.
The next DFI Thematic Series, ‘Masters of Illusions’ is scheduled from June 1 to 4.