The Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) 8th Ajyal Film Festival will present the first-ever Drive-In Cinema experience in partnership with Qatar National Tourism Council at Lusail as part of a multisensory experience for all ages.

Featuring an unmissable selection of films from classic family-favourites to edge-of-your-seat horror, the open-air cinema experience is set to bring the community together at safe social distances in line with government guidelines and with the health of all Ajyal participants as the top priority. Tickets for the Drive-In screenings can be purchased for 100 QAR per car and are available at ajyafilm.com.

Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Festival Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Doha Film Institute, said: “A staple of the film-going experience of the 50s and 60s, drive-in cinemas are gaining a resurgence across the world as a creative way to preserve community spirit and celebrate culture in this new time. Capturing the magic of film with award-winning classics and spine-tingling midnight screenings, we are proud to present Lusail’s first-ever Drive-In Cinema as part of this year’s Ajyal to delight audiences in a new space of film, music and fun.”

“The current global situation has shown us the value of purpose-driven initiatives that keep our minds and creative spirits active in times of isolation. I would like to thank our partners at Qatar National Tourism Council for their generous support in helping us bring this wonderful concept to Ajyal this year and provide for a safe communal film-going experience.”

Ajyal’s first-ever Drive-In Cinema film programme features:

• David Hand’s moving Disney classic Bambi (USA/1942) is the story of a fawn named Bambi that joins his new friends - a young rabbit named Thumper and Flower the skunk in exploring the woods to uncover fear, tragedy and the renewing energy of spring. The classic family film will screen at 6.30 PM on Thursday, 12 November.
• In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (USA/2005) by Andrew Adamson, four children discover a wardrobe that transports them to an enchanted world called Narnia. The screening will take place at 7.30 PM on Friday, 13 November.
• The award-winning DreamWorks Claymation Chicken Run (USA/2000) by Peter Lord and Nick Park tells the story of a band of chickens doomed to a life of egg laying on a Yorkshire chicken farm and will screen at 7 PM on Saturday, 14 November.
• In a special midnight screening, Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick’s The Blair Witch Project (USA/1999) follows three film students who vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind. The 18+ screening will take place at 11.59 PM on Thursday, 19 November.
• The second midnight screening features James Whale’s Frankenstein (USA/1931) in which an obsessed scientist struggles with the artificial man he has created. The 18+ screening will take place at 11.59 PM on Friday, 20 November.
• Making its MENA premiere, Lupin III. The First (Japan/2020) by Takashi Yamazaki is screening at 7 PM on Sunday, 22 November, and follows the ‘gentleman thief’ and his colourful underworld companions that race to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Bresson Diary, before it falls into the hands of a dark cabal.

Screening at the Drive-In Cinema at 6.30 PM on Friday, 20 November, the Ajyal 2020 Kids’ Special Screening will celebrate the 70th year of Disney’s beloved animated classic Cinderella (USA/1950) by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske. The nostalgically enduring family-favourite follows Cinderella’s life as it is forever changed when her fairy godmother appears and magically transforms her reality into a dream come true.

Exploring the mesmerizing force of melody, Ajyal Drive-in Cinema invites audiences to the Ajyal Tunes concerts series. Ajyal Tunes Concert 1 (Feel the Beat) explores the duality of music’s energy-giving and relaxing properties, taking place at 9.30 PM on Friday, 20 November. Ajyal Tunes Concert 2 (Music of the Heart), taking place at 9.30 PM on Saturday, 21 November, focuses on the emotional side of music. Finally, Ajyal Tunes Concert 3 (Geekdom) at 9 PM on Monday, 23 November, rounds off the series with a special Geekdom concert to delight anime and cartoons fans. All concerts are priced at 50 QAR per car at Lusail.

2020 Ajyal Film Festival’s Official Partners include: Katara Cultural Village Foundation – Cultural Partner; Qatar National Tourism Council – Principal Partner; Novo Cinemas, Ooredoo – Strategic Partner, Msheireb Properties, Lusail, Qatari Diar – Signature Sponsors.