Doha Film Institute unveils plans for inaugural edition of Qumra

By Ian Sandwell2014-12-07T06:00:00+00:00

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Abderrahmane Sissako, Leila Hatami, Cristian Mungiu and Danis Tanović are the first names confirmed to participate.

Doha Film Institute (DFI) has unveiled plans for Qumra.

Abderrahmane Sissako, Leila Hatami, Cristian Mungiu and Danis Tanović are the first names confirmed to participate as Masters at the inaugural edition.

The aim of Qumra is to contribute to the development of emerging film-makers from Qatar and around the world, with a special focus on first and second-time film-makers.

Directors and producers attached to up to 25 projects in development or post-production will be invited to participate in the event. The programme will feature industry meetings designed to assist projects to their next stages of development, as well as a programme of public screenings curated with input from the Qumra Masters.

Qumra is led by the DFI team, with the support of the Sarajevo Film Festival. Film-maker Elia Sulieman will continue in his role as artistic advisor to Qumra and the DFI. Paolo Bertolin and Violeta Bava are on board as programming and industry advisors.

Fatma Al Remaihi, acting CEO of the DFI, commented: “It will be a mixture of features and shorts and a blend of regions, genres and agendas. There will be no prizes, with the projects chosen from people who already have grants or are part of the DFI educational programme, but we will be matchmaking them to help get them to the next level.

“There are two more possible Masters in the pipeline. We want to keep the structure flexible. Qumra is about evolution and we want to try some formulas as we go – we need to be elastic.”

“The concept for Qumra has evolved over time into something that responds to the needs of film-makers in a very meaningful way. It is founded on the idea that creativity and imagination should have a space to be nurtured and we intend to guide these emerging talents along the path to realise their vision,” added Sulieman.

Qumra’s announcement comes at the close of the second edition of the DFI’s Ajyal Youth Film Festival, which is dedicated to the creative development of the region’s youth.