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• Academy Award winning films and Ajyal Youth Film Festival winner on showcase at Katara Cultural Village

Doha, Qatar; January 27, 2015: Closely following the 2015 Academy Awards, the Doha Film Institute will celebrate the best in world cinema with a special ‘Awards Season Showcase’ on February 27 and 28, 2015 at Katara Cultural Village.

Presented as part of the Institute’s year-round film screenings programme, the ‘Awards Season Showcase’ will feature three compelling films from Academy Awards history and one contemporary title. These include the Hollywood classic Casablanca (1942) starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, which won three Academy Awards; Ang Lee’s epic martial arts masterpiece Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which won the Best Foreign Language Film Award, and the heart-warming French drama Les Choristes (2004), nominated for foreign language award at the 2004 Golden Globe and Academy Awards.

Also to be screened is Damien Chazelle’s gripping drama, Whiplash – 2015 Golden Globe Winner (Best Supporting Actor, J.K. Simmons), 2015 Academy Award Best Picture nominee and winner of the Best Filmmaker award at the recent Ajyal Youth Film Festival in the Bader category.

Screening attendees will have the opportunity to experience their own ‘red carpet’ moment with an interactive fan zone and a photo gallery that will illustrate the captivating history of the Academy Awards. Pre-screening refreshment will also be available at the cinema café.

Les Choristes (The Chorus), directed by Christophe Barratier, charts the transformation of Pierre, a musical prodigy, into a veteran conductor. The film is told through the eyes of an elderly Pierre (Jacques Perrin), who returns to France and reminisces his childhood inspirations. It will be screened at Katara Cultural Village on Friday, Feb. 27 at 4pm.

Whiplash is about an ambitious young drummer who clashes with his ferocious instructor at a cutthroat music academy. The teacher ruthlessly preys upon the youth’s perfectionism driving him to the brink of insanity in an escalation of terrifying events. It was chosen by the Doha Film Experience jurors at the Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2014 to receive the Best Filmmaker Award in the Bader category. Whiplash will be screened on Friday, Feb. 27 at 7pm.

Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the winner of Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Original Score and Best Cinematography, in addition to the Best Foreign Language Film, and has an ensemble cast including Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. A fascinating and action-packed story set during the Qing Dynasty, the film will be screened on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 4pm.

The final film in the ‘Awards Season Showcase’ is all-time classic Casablanca, set during World War II, as an American expatriate is forced to choose between his love for a woman and helping her Czech Resistance leader husband escape the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Nazis. The film won Academy Awards for Outstanding Motion Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Director. It will be screened on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7pm.

Regular tickets are priced QAR35; student tickets are QAR25 on presenting a valid student ID. Tickets can be purchased online at www.dohafilminstitute.com starting from 29th of January or in person from Box Offices at Building 16, Drama Theatre on 24th of February.