OK people. Amazing day ahead. We at DTFF don’t like telling people how to run their lives … but we promise if your day looks something like this, you’ll be six kinds of happy by the time you crawl into bed.

First up, get in the mood for our Arab Film Competition – press conferences with the makers of ‘Embers’, ‘The Lebanese Rocket Society’, ‘Asham: A Man Called Hope’ and ‘Professor’ will take place at the Al Mirqab Hotel at 2:30 PM. Go online later in the day to see excerpts from the discussion and get some valuable insight into filmmaking in the Arab world right now. The competition films are on all week – click here and here for more info – so get out there and get into the heart of the Festival.

Choosing films to see today is going to be the hard part. Highly recommend you play hooky after lunch and sit in the dark all afternoon and evening! For example, you could hit the Museum of Islamic Art at 3:00 PM to see ‘The Deep’, Iceland’s Oscar entry this year. It’s part adventure story, part fascinating bio-pic, it tells the amazing story of a man who inexplicably survived hours and hours in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic after his fishing boat capsized. Then stick around for the 6:30 PM screening of ‘Kuma’, an intense drama about a Turkish family living in Austria and trying to manage their traditional values in the confines of an unfamiliar society. Finally, at 9:30 PM, ‘Just the Wind’ is a deeply moving look at the horrors of racism.

Another option is to head to Katara and immerse yourself in the Arab Film Competition – maybe hang at Katara 12-A, where at 4:15 PM you can catch ‘Asham: A Man Called Hope’, a story about several Cairene romances and the hopes of Egypt in the post-revolution period. At 7:15 PM, ‘In the Shadow of a Man’ also looks at the revolution, but from the point of view of Egypt’s women as they explore new freedoms. At 9:30 PM, it’s ‘O My Body!’, a documentary about a groundbreaking dance troupe and their world-premiere performance in Algiers.

If none of that is to your taste, just have a look at the programme for today – you’re sure to find something. And don’t forget, if films are sold out, you can still wait in the Rush Sales line – there are often seats available for films you thought you were going to have to miss.

If you’re a film geek, a tech geek, or just an artist at heart, drop by the Katara Opera House at 5:00 PM for ‘Transmedia: Storytelling in the Digital Age’, a Doha Talks session that looks at how filmmakers are harnessing new technologies to create new film-based storytelling projects.

Oh! And don’t forget it’s the first night of free screenings at the Sony Open-Air Cinema on the esplanade at Katara. Tonight’s offering is Ahmed Al Maanouni’s ‘Trances’ – music fans will be head over heels hearing about the legendary Moroccan band Nass Al Ghiwane when they took the Arab world by storm in the 70s. If music isn’t your thing, plan at least one Cinema Under the Stars experience – there’s a grab-bag of films on offer, many of them family-friendly. And with Doha’s weather doing what it’s doing, an outdoor screening makes for a lovely night out.

See you at the movies!