With just under three weeks to go until the start of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival and the world premiere of Arabian epic Black Gold, the Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced that The Reluctant Fundamentalist will be the second major international film to receive funding.
Based on the bestselling Booker Prize-nominated book by Mohsin Hamid, the film adaption of The Reluctant Fundamentalist is being directed by Mira Nair, with Riz Ahmed in the lead role of Changez, a Pakistani Princeton-graduate who tells the story of his love affair with America and his eventual abandonment of the country after the events of September 11. Kate Hudsen, Lieve Schrieber and Kiefer Sutherland also star.
The film started shooting earlier in the week on location in Atlanta, New York, Lahore, Delhi and Istanbul. No release date has yet been set.
“My father lived in Lahore before the partition of India and Pakistan,” says Nair, who is producing the film with the Doha Film Institute through her production company, Mirabai Films. “I am inspired to make a contemporary film about Pakistan, especially in this day and age when the perceived schism between Islamists and the Western world becomes more pronounced each day.”
Nair, who directed 2001’s Monsoon Wedding, is no stranger to Qatar. Her biopic Amelia – based on the story of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart – opened the first ever Doha Tribeca Film Festival in 2009 and she was a guest at the screening in the Museum of Islamic Art.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist will be the second DFI-funded film starring Riz Ahmed. The English actor and musician played the supporting role of Ali in Black Gold, which will open the Doha Tribeca Film Festival on October 25, and spent several weeks filming in Qatar earlier this year. He also stars in Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna, an adaption of Tess of the D’Ubervilles set in modern day India, which will screen at the upcoming Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
Although filming isn’t taking place in Qatar, there is still hope that in joining as financiers, DFI will help build the local film industry and provide opportunities for aspiring or emerging talent from the region. “We started this process by sending production staff to work on the sets of Black Gold in Tunisia and Qatar,” says DFI executive director Amanda Palmer. “With The Reluctant Fundamentalist, we will again send a regional team on-location with Mira’s crew to learn their craft.”
For the author Mohsin Hamid, the development of the film is as important as the story. “This film means a great deal to me. It is a rare case of artistic collaboration between Pakistanis, Americans and Indians. It tries to humanise what too often is stereotyped. And it tries to break down the walls that separate us, to expand our sense of empathy, and to let us reconnect as artists, as people and as citizens of a shared planet.”
The book is primarily set in a cafe in Lahore, when Changez meets an American stranger and tells him the tale that brought them together, from his success in Princeton and then Wall Street, to his romance with the beautiful Erica, and then – following September 11 – his subsequent change in identity and falling out of love with both Erica and the US.
How Nair transforms this metaphor-laden and thought-provoking novel into a feature should make for interesting viewing.
aritman@thenational.ae
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The specs: 2018 Jaguar E-Pace First Edition
Price, base / as tested: Dh186,480 / Dh252,735
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 246hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 365Nm @ 1,200rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
The specs
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- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
