Clermont-Ferrand Winner Eimi Imanishi Preps Western Sahara-Set ‘Doha – The Rising Sun’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comNaman Ramachandran Eimi Imanishi is thematically expanding her Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival winner, “Battalion to My Beat,” as a narrative feature film titled “Doha – The Rising Sun.” The film, written and directed by Imanishi, will follow Mariam, a young woman who is forced to return home to Western Sahara when she is deported from Europe.
Adrift in the very place that was once her home, she desperately searches for the means to assert agency over her own life. Imanishi participated in Film Independent’s directors lab, followed by the Sundance Institute’s screenwriting and directing labs in 2018.
She then met New York-based producer Shrihari Sathe (“Stay Awake,” “Mafak”) who came on board to produce “Doha.” The producing team has since expanded to include Eric Dupont (“Last Film Show”), who was Oscar-nominated for “Ave Maria”; Virginie Lacombe (“Port Authority”) from France; and Barcelona-based Belén Sanchez (“Tobacco Barns”).
Yacine Laloui from the Algiers-based Lunja Productions will executive produce alongside Queralt Pons Serra, Peter Howard and Julia Thompson.
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