MUMBAI: Acclaimed Egyptian actress Yosra will preside over the Jury of the 2nd annual Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) scheduled to be held from 26 to 30 October.

Yosra replaces the previously announced Jury President, Hany Abu-Assad who had to step back due to a delay in production of his latest film The Courier currently being shot on location in Louisiana.

The Egyptian actress will be joined by four other members of the film industry who comprise the inaugural jury, Salma Hayek Pinault, actor, writer and director Nick Moran, Indian director Bhawna Talwar and Bosnian screenwriter and film director Danis Tanovic. Together they will choose the winners of the Festival‘s Arab Film Competition: Best Arab Film and Best Arab Filmmaker who will each receive monetary awards of US$100,000.

Additionally, the festival has also added seven more feature films to its programme - including Andrew Lau‘s Legend Of The Fist: The Return Of Chen Zhen, John Curran‘s Stone, Machete, Casino Jack and a special IMAX presentation of Paranormal Activity 2.

Two Hindi films Rakht Charitra by Ramgopal Varma and Vikramaditya Motwane‘s Udaan will also have their Qatar premiere at the festival , while Champs Elysees Je T‘aime has been added to the Arab Short Film Competition.

Remarked Yosra, "I‘m honoured to be the first Jury President of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival and I want to thank my fellow jurors Salma, Nick, Danis and Bhavna for joining me. It‘s a great privilege for me to work with them and I hope that together, we can fulfill the expectations of the filmmakers, and can contribute towards highlighting the Arab Cinema and further encouraging the talent from the region."

Said DFI Executive Director Amanda Palmer, "We are delighted Yosra is joining us in Doha as our first Jury President for DTFF‘s first Arab Film Competition. Yosra supported us immensely in our first year as a festival, and in our second year it‘s an honour to welcome this cinematic icon to preside over an international jury."