Sundance winner Sofia Alaoui, Yemeni-Scottish Oscar nominee Sara Ishaq and Emmy-winning Egyptian cinematographer Muhammad Hamdy will be among the filmmakers presenting projects at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event, which takes place March 10-15 in Qatar.
The ninth edition of the talent incubator is aimed at DFI-funded filmmakers and presents 44 projects from 23 countries, which will take place as a physical event for the first time since 2019.
Moroccan-French director Alaoui, winner of the Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Creative Vision for her fantasy drama animal kingdom presents in January with a new series in development.
Titled let the earth burnrevolves around a graduate of a police academy who, despite the end of the year, is transferred to a remote town in the Atlas Mountains.
Ishaq, who was nominated for a short film Oscar Karama has no wallspresents her second feature film The station against a women-only gas station in a gender-segregated village in war-torn Yemen.
Hamdy, who received an Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for his work on the Egyptian Revolution documentary The squarewill unveil his first feature film project Perfumed with mint about a friends reunion that takes a nightmarish turn.
The post-production work includes the documentary film by Lina Soualem Goodbye Tiberias about her mother, award-winning Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass, whose recent credits include Rami And successor.
The biodoc examines Abbass’ decision to leave her hometown in Galilee to pursue her dream of an acting career and how the women in her family who left her behind affected her life.
“Our goal is to support independent voices in cinema on their journey from script to screen,” DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said when the selection was revealed. “The skills filmmakers learn at Qumra will be invaluable on their journey, as they not only connect their projects to a global audience, but also gain exceptional insight into the craft of filmmaking.”
Projects in development are advised by international film and TV professionals specializing in production, distribution and film financing, while there are closed raw screenings for films in post-production open to festival programmers, broadcasters, market representatives, sales agents and distributor booths.
In addition to around 100 specialist guests, the event also invites five so-called, previously announced Qumra masters.
They consist of playwright, screenwriter and director Christopher Hampton, producer David Parfitt, costume designer Jacqueline West and filmmakers Lynne Ramsay and Michael Winterbottom. They each give a masterclass about their career and introduce individual participants.
The full list of Qumra projects for 2023 (summaries provided by DFI)
Feature Story – Development
Perfumed with mint (Egy-Fr-Qat-Brazil)
Goal. Muhammad Hamdi.
Old friends reunite in a nightmare with mint sprouting from their bodies. Pursued relentlessly by relentless shadows, will the companions escape the maze or will they endlessly hide in empty streets filled with memories?
The other women (Fr-Qatar-Alg))(working title)
Goal. Meriem Mesraoua
Salima takes extreme measures to save her marriage’s illusory haven and is confronted with the fragility of her long-held image.
El Bastardiya – Once in Tripoli (Lib-Egy-Fr-Qat)
Goal. Abdullah Al-Ghaly
Three friends try to survive in Tripoli, where violence rules the country.
weed (Pal Jor Qat Saudi Arabia)
Goal. Said Zagha
Abbas, a self-righteous middle-aged auto mechanic living in Palestine’s lawless “Area-C” where marijuana cultivation thrives, will do anything to avenge the death of his eldest son.
Feature film – in production
Thank you for banking with us! (Ger-Pal-Qat).
Goal. Layla Abbas
Two bickering poor sisters try to overcome their differences to beat the system. They successfully develop a plan and finally get a chance to start over.
Bathroom sink (Jor-Fr-Swe-Qat)
Goal. Zain Duraie
Nadia’s life slowly begins to change as she becomes caught up in her teenage son’s undiagnosed mental illness.
The station (Yem-Jor-Fr-Nl-Qat)
Goal. Sarah Isaac
Layal runs a women-only gas station in a war-torn, gender-segregated village to protect her 12-year-old brother from recruitment.
Feature Story – Post Production
Brief history of a family (Ch-Den-Fr-Qat)
Goal. A middle-class family becomes entangled with a mysterious new friend of their only son.
If only I could hibernate (Mon-Fri Swiss Qat)
Goal. Zoljargal Purevdash
A poor but proud teenager who was determined to win a physics scholarship.
dogs (Fr-Mor-Bel-Qat)
Goal. Kamal Lasrak
In the working-class neighborhoods of Casablanca, father and son Hassan and Issam struggle day after day to survive.
tiger stripes (Malay-Tw-Sg-Fr-Gr-En-Indo-Qat)
Goal. Amanda Nell Eu
A girl discovers a terrifying secret about her physical self.
Backstage (Mor-Tun-Bel-Fri)
Goal: Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane
Aida, a member of a contemporary dance group touring Morocco, seduces Hedi during a performance that sets off a chain of events.
dead dog (Long live Fri Qatar)
Goal. Sarah Franz
A middle-aged couple confronts the dysfunctional status of their relationship and their inability to break the cycle in which they are trapped.
labor (Th-Fr-Canada-Qat)
Goal. Maryam Joobeur
A mother blinds herself to the darkness in her son’s soul. Through their eyes we see how an individual’s inner darkness can radiate outward and consume an entire community.
Feature Documentary – Development
Souraya Mon Amour [working title] (Live Qat)
Goal. Nicholas Khoury
A portrait of Lebanese actress Souraya Baghdadi through her reflections on her relationship with director Maroun Baghdadi’s late husband.
The woman I never called mother (Alg-Fr-Qatar)
Goal. Sabrina Adiri Chemloul
Fatima, 73, lives alone in Oran, Algeria, and has never done the right thing.
Contaminated (Do Fri-Lux-Qatar)
Goal. Mehdi Hmili and Abdallah Chamekh
Two mentally and physically disabled workers are haunted by the loss of their colleague in Tunisia’s largest steelworks.
The myth of Mahmoud (Pal-US-Qat)
Goal. Mayar Hamdan.
The story of Mahmoud Said, a Palestinian who died at the age of 93 after trying to build a house.
Feature documentary – in production
west of May (Leb-Fr-Qat)
Goal. Sarah Sage
A family chronicle about the fate of a fisherman’s family in the heart of a working-class neighborhood in Beirut. Behind the love that unites this house, it tells of the fractures that run through contemporary Lebanese society.
women of my life (Iraq Swe Qat)
Goal. Zahra Gandur
The filmmaker’s search for her missing childhood friend, a journey that will reveal secret worlds of abuse and violence against women across Iraq.
Documentary – post production
Goodbye Tiberias (Fr-Pal-Bel-Qat)
Goal. Lina Soulem
A portrait of Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass, who left her hometown of Deir Hanna in Galilee 30 years ago to pursue her dream of acting in France. The director and daughter Lina question her mother’s brave decisions and how the women in her family she left behind influenced her life.
have power (Do-Leb-Fr-Qat)
Goal. Sonja Ben Slama
Tells the life of Fatma and her daughters Najeh and Waffenh who are married to musicians in Mahdia, Tunisia. The sisters walk opposite paths – while Najeh, divorced, tries to remarry to avoid her brothers’ authority, Waffenh wants to divorce her abusive husband.
To the bridge (Hat Qat)
Goal. Mary Tuscany
Valeria Collina’s life is turned upside down by the death of her son Youssef, one of three jihadist terrorists who killed eight people on London Bridge. Valeria is grieving and needs to get her life back under control.
monism (Indo Qat)
Goal. Riar Rizaldi
Professional actors and amateurs portray dynamic relationships between man and nature in one of the world’s most active stratovolcanoes, Mount Merapi.
river of frogs (Mexico)
Goal. Juan Carlos Nuñez Chavarria
A sensory documentary about a family of healers who continue the ancient practice of the cult of the dead in a small town in Veracruz, Mexico.
The forgotten [Working Title] (Pal-Qat-UAE)
Goal. Ghada Terawi
The life of Kozo, a Japanese freedom fighter and member of the Japanese Red Army who gave his life in Japan to join the Palestine Liberation Movement.
Qumra drive
Country Nairi (Armenia)
Goal. Ovsanna Gevorgyan
The misguided demolition of a chemical plant overwhelms Nairi with a purple liquid that puts the town’s youth to sleep.
care (Mor Qat)
Goal. Talal Selhami and Jawad Lahlou
When her father is brutally murdered in 8th-century North Africa, a young Berber woman discovers that he was a fallen Viking king.
Nguya (DRC, bell)
Goal. Michiel Robberecht, Precy Numbi
Nia’s life is turned upside down when she meets Nguya, a robotic superhero born in the coltan mines of Eastern Congo.
status quo (Leb-Qat-Spain-USA)
Goal. Gilbert Karam and Hiba Louis
Beirut heats up when three unsuspecting girlfriends are forced to band together against the corrupt regime after they accidentally kidnap a powerful politician’s son.
from the mountain (Syr-Jor)
Goal. Feisal Atrache
A fiery young farmer becomes the hero of his community in the Arab nationalist struggle for independence against the Ottomans.
The house my mother built (Sudan)
Goal: Alyaa Musa follows
Eight women from across Sudan share their amazing encounters with the residents of the homes they fled to during the 2019-2022 Sudanese revolution.
let the earth burn (Fr-Qat)
Goal. Sofia Aloui
Despite excellent results, Kenza, a recent police academy graduate, is transferred to a remote station in a small town in the Atlas Mountains.
Source: Deadline
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