The Salesman, written and directed by celebrated filmmaker Asghar Farhadi and co-financed by Doha Film Institute (DFI), will mark its world premiere in the official competition of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
Six other films supported by the DFI Grants programme have been officially selected to screen in key sections at the global film event running from May 11 to 22.
The Salesman is produced by Memento Films Production and Asghar Farhadi Production, in co-production with Arte France Cinema and in association with DFI, Memento Films Distribution and Arte France.
Forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighbouring building, Emad and Rana move into a new flat in the centre of Tehran. An incident linked to the previous tenant will dramatically change the young couple’s life. The Salesman stars Shahab Hosseini (A Separation) and Taraneh Alidoosti (About Elly).
Fatma al-Remaihi, CEO of DFI, said: “We are delighted that seven films supported by the institute have been officially selected at Cannes this year. The selection of The Salesman in the festival’s official competition section is an achievement we are all very excited about as it adds to our pride in partnering with international productions that set new benchmarks in excellence in filmmaking.”
Among the six DFI grantee films, two have been selected for the Un Certain Regard section – Apprentice (Singapore, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Qatar) written and directed by Boo Junfeng, and Dogs (Romania, France, Bulgaria, Qatar) by Bogdan Florian Mirica.
Showcased in the Directors’ Fortnight is Divines (Morocco, France, Qatar), directed by Houda Benyamina. The remaining three DFI grantee films will compete for top honours in the Critics Week, including Mimosas (Spain, Morocco, France, Qatar) by Oliver Laxe,
Tramontane (Lebanon, France, UAE, Qatar) by Vatche Boulghourjian and Diamond Island (Cambodia, France, Germany, Qatar) by Davy Chou.
As part of Qatar’s presence in Cannes, DFI is also presenting a special Made in Qatar (MIQ) showcase of short films at the Cannes’ Short Film Corner, a section of the festival dedicated to showcasing films from more than 90 countries to thousands of accredited industry guests, festival selectors and short film industry specialists.
The line-up includes winners of the Best Documentary Film and Best Narrative Film at Ajyal 2015, The Palm Tree by Jassim al-Remaihi and Asfoora by Mayar Hamdan, respectively, Good as New by Jasser Alagha, Yellow Nights by Abdullah al-Mulla, The Notebook by Amna al-Binali, Light Sounds by Karem Kamel, Veganize it by Khalid Salim, To My Mother by Amina Ahmed al-Bloshi and Inside Out by Fahad al-Obaidly.
Since premiering at Ajyal in 2015, the MIQ package has screened at Clermont Ferrand and Berlinale and is also scheduled to screen in Sarajevo and several other festivals on the international circuit later this year.