HI it’s Naji,

Hey, it’s Naji. I just met the best actors, actresses and filmmakers on the red carpet today. Believe it or not, I met the best of the best: Robert De Niro! I also met Yosra and Khaled Abol Naga. But that’s not all, we met the director of ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’, Mira Nair!

We also saw many guests and filmmakers at the opening night red carpet at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival. Each and every person we interviewed was very nice!

Hope my next report will be as exciting! Till then… BYE!

It was around 4 in the afternoon when I met Sandy, Naji and Noora and all the DFI Kids Access crew. Our crew was very delightful to work with, but there was only one problem for me… as the time got closer, the more nervous I felt. Eventually, I noticed from the faces surrounding me that we were all very nervous. Yet in unison, we forgot about it and totally enjoyed every moment.
So I took a deep breath and did my job perfectly fine. Even though I did make some mistakes, like Hannah Montana said: ‘Everybody makes mistakes!” I let it go and hopefully will learn from it.

It got darker by 5:30 and the place was crowded with people like cameramen, reporters, staff and festivalgoers!

Later the lights shone against the red carpet, cameras flashed; the fans cheered and asked for autographs; reporters and celebrities responded to one another. Everything happened so fast, it was fascinating to see! The scenery was exactly like the ones a kid could’ve ever seen in a movie. (Yes, when I was a kid I used to daydream about interviewing celebrities or at least attending red carpets!)

Towards the end of the day, as always, the best was kept for last. All of us felt very exhausted, tired and hungry. However, that very moment we saw Robert De Niro get out of a car. Naji, Noora and I started jumping up and down. Naji felt butterflies in his stomach, Noora felt even worse! She felt butterflies AND mosquitoes in her stomach. As he got closer, both Naji and Noora prepared their questions and asked him for a picture. The three of us took a picture and got to shake hands with the one and only Robert De Niro. If only I could repeat that moment a thousand times, I still wouldn’t believe it was all REAL! Not only did I meet Mr. De Niro, but I also learned a lesson.

“You’ve got to clock the hours and pay your dues. Then eventually, people will come to you. You have to be patient and appreciative” –Elisabeth Rohm

Even though I had to wait, I did it patiently. I appreciate the opportunity to be a DFI Kids Access reporter now more than ever: collaborating with DFI Kids Access crew, observing information the way social media works from what I saw and experienced. Never will I regret Saturday 17 of November 2012, the Opening Night of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival!

-Yohana S.M