Short Film News (SFN)- Amanda Palmer has been appointed executive director of the new Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF).

Amanda Palmer, head of entertainment for Al Jazeera English, has been named DTFF Executive Director.

Palmer will lead the Festival and work with a team from Tribeca that includes Geoffrey Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer of Tribeca Enterprises, to shape the program.

Locally the team will include Arab documentary and short films expert Mohamed Maklouf, serving as the festival’s Regional Programs Advisor, and award-winning Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti serving as Community Outreach Programmer.

“Our vision is to create a festival that genuinely engages the Qatari people and supports regional filmmakers,” said Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of QMA. "This team is going to impact the way this region experiences film.”

"When Her Excellency and I started talking about this possibility it was always clear that the festival vision was to create an authentic film event that truly serves the community,” said Palmer. "Film is such an amazing equalizer and we felt Tribeca was unique in how it creates an event where filmmakers and film-goers can equally celebrate film."

Doha Tribeca Film Festival will run October 29 to November 1, 2009 and is being produced by Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) in collaboration with the Tribeca Film Festival.