Meg Ryan joined the 4th Ajyal Youth Film Festival, where she addressed the Ajyal Jurors, speaking about her first feature-length directorial debut “Ithaca.” As part of her visit, she was also presented with the Ajyal Honorary Award, to celebrate her inspirational career.
When asked by one of the jurors about getting into the film business, Ryan gave the following advice to the group, who represented some of the 550 young people participating at the festival: “Filmmakers, directors, actors, all different kinds, get as much as experience you can, get on as many sets as you can — do anything from PA (production assistant) to assisting a director. I even mean write scripts, fail at that, the more experience you get the better.”
Speaking about the making of “Ithaca,” and why she was drawn to the project, she commented: “I just felt like as a mom it’s a story I could tell, more than an actor, or someone working in the movie business, as a mother I loved telling the story.
On working with the Doha Film Institute and visiting Doha for the first time, Ryan said: “I am open to collaborating with the Doha Film Institute. So far since being here I have seen amazing things — we went to the Museum of Islamic Art, which was perfect and then out to Banana Island. If I was here longer I would be at the Souq and the desert.”

Source: Arab News