Qatar company sets up $200m movie fund

A Qatar-based company has launched a $200m international movie fund which plan to invest in at least 10 projects over the next five years.

Alnoor Holdings, owned by the Al-Hashemi group, said it was committed to "becoming the most dominant international media and entertainment player".

The launch coincides with the Doha Tribeca Film Festival currently taking place in the Gulf state, an event backed by Hollywood stars such as Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese.

Ahmed A Al-Hashemi, chairman of Alnoor Holdings, said: “Alnoor Holdings has positioned itself as an all-encompassing global media organisation to effectively penetrate local, regional and international markets with content that is highly appealing and inspirational to the respective audiences.

"We have made significant commitments in terms of investment, acquisition of media content and human resources to move forward rapidly and are fully confident that we will satisfy a sizeable audience in a very short timeframe."

It was the lack of quality content in Arabic cinema, drama and theatre that had prompted the company to establish an entity like Alnoor Holdings, he added.

He said Alnoor was in talks with various studios and groups in the UK, the US, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, India and elsewhere for partnerships.

A business plan geared towards rapid growth has been developed through a series of partnerships with prominent industry organisations, the company added in a statement.

Formal relationships with the Financial Times and South East Media Network in the UK have already been inked.

Its core activities will include international production, with special emphasis on English and Arabic language feature films, drama, documentaries and TV programmes.

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