The Doha Film Institute’s 11th Qumra talent and project incubator gets underway on Friday, with the aim of nurturing 49 works across all formats supported by its grants program.

Some 350 international film and TV industry professionals will touch down in the Qatari capital from April 4 to 9 to advise and network with the emerging filmmakers behind the projects.

This year’s selection marks a milestone for the institute, which celebrates its 15th anniversary later this year, for the strong selection of projects by Qatari nationals or long-time Qatar residents, including five features.  

Most advanced among these is A.J. Al-Thani’s drama Sari & Amira about a Bedouin couple living in the lawless deserts of the Arabian Peninsula, who steal a relic with the potential to transform their lives but also unleash destructive ancient forces. Pursued by a ruthless warlord and a battalion of British soldiers, they set off on a perilous journey to uncover the treasure’s truth.

Other feature projects by Qatari nationals include Noor Al-Nasr’s drama The Pearl, about a tech-obsessed Qatari teen who travels back in time to the era of pearl diving, and documentary essay Jodari Meno by Jamal Rashid Al-Khanji, exploring his personal journey as he pursues his passion for the underwater world through spearfishing, shot in Qatar, Zanzibar and Italy.

Projects by long-time Qatari residents with strong DFI connections – Love 45 by Syrian-French director Anas Khalaf, who has lived in Doha since 2012, after fleeing Damascus due to the political situation, and Cotton Queen by Sudanese-Russian filmmaker Suzannah Mirghani – also feature in the selection.

In other formats, Doha-based Palestinian filmmaker and screenwriter Dana J. Atrach will present drama series Task Force: Apocalypse!, revolving around the imaginary Imperial Government of Bakalawi’s flawed attempt to encourage “eco- friendly” practices in the face of a looming fresh water shortage.

Another 12 Qatari short projects will also be presented at the meeting including Amna Al-Binali’s drama Inside the White Canvas about a young woman struggling to earn her father’s approval as her curiosity about the outside world grows, and Mohammed D. Fakhro’s Rumor Has It, about a Qatari food blogger who subscribes to an AI app that promises to earn him more followers.

DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Al Remaihi says the institute has been instrumental in laying the foundations for Qatar’s emerging film and television industry by fostering local talent, supporting homegrown productions, and training hundreds of national talents annually.

A.J. Al-Thani, for example, got her first taste of filmmaking through early DFI workshops in 2010, with the institute then supporting her short films Kashta and The Black Veil.

They are among 65 films by Qatari filmmakers supported by the DFI to date, but Al Remaihi says the organization’s work goes beyond funding.

“The ecosystem we’ve created is comprehensive and includes education, training, networking, and platforms for exhibiting work and facilitating global collaborations,” she says.

“We’ve strong established industry partnerships with some of the most prestigious global film and culture organisations to further develop a highly skilled creative community in Qatar and the region, bridging the gap between the east and the west,” she adds.

Upcoming educational workshops, for example, include the Producers Lab, in collaboration with European producer body EAVE and with the support of the Royal Jordanian Film Commission, and the editing focused program overseen by First Cut Lab.

In the backdrop an organic film and TV ecosystem is also taking shape.

Al-Thani’s Sari & Amira is being produced by burgeoning Qatari production house Katara Studios, headed by Ahmed Al-Baker, another local film and TV pioneer, who is credited with making the territory’s feature film, the 2010 sci-fi, 3D thriller The Package: Volume 1.

Initially producing under the banner of Innovation Production, Al-Baker is now the head of Katara Studios, with his credits directing The Pact for Roku and creating sci-fi drama Medinah for Starzplay.

Sari & Amira is among a quartet of features currently on the go at the studio alongside biopic Sakhr, about late Kuwaiti tech pioneer Mohammed Al-Sharekh; Mohammed Al Ibrahim’s mystery thriller Sa3oud Wainah and documentary Anne Everlasting about Anne Lorimor who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro at 89-years-old to reclaim her title as the oldest person to scale the summit.

Al-Thani and Al-Baker will be at Qumra with Katara Studios Senior Vice President Luca Bercovici.

“We complement each other,” comments Bercovici on the company’s relationship with the DFI.

Sa3oud Wainah director Al Ibrahim, who is also Senior Content Developer at Katara Studios, and in-house film editor Maryam Al-Sahli reveal that they also cut their filmmaking teeth at the DFI, followed by a stint at Doha-based Al Jazeera Children, which has since rebranded as Jeem TV.

“Maryam and I were involved with the DFI almost from its initiation. We started out making short films back in the day. I made two shorts, Land of Pearls and Bidoon, before branching out into other outlets,” says Al Ibrahim.

Billed by Katara Studios as as Qatar’s first commercial film, Al Ibrahim’s debut Sa3oud Wainah is currently in post-production for a planned pan-Arab release later this year.

“I think there is a hunger for local content,” says Al Ibrahim. “Whether they will go and see it in local theaters or on a platform remains to be seen but it will create buzz, that’s for sure.”