Russian director and writer Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless), Thai filmmaker and visual artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Italian director Gianfranco Rosi are confirmed as the first three Masters of the Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) dedicated industry event Qumra 2018.
In its fourth edition in 2018, the three film masters will deliver Master Classes to up and coming filmmakers from Qatar and around the world, providing them with unique professional development opportunities through mentoring sessions and development workshops. Their films will also be screened to public audiences.
Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO of DFI said the fourth edition of Qumra is lucky to welcome three distinguished auteurs of world cinema, true masters who have presented standout films that reflect our world today through thought-provoking messages and discussions.
It is an honour to host Andrey Zvyagintsev, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Gianfranco Rosi, filmmakers who have redefined storytelling. We look forward to their participation to Qumra 2018, which will greatly benefit our filmmakers and enable them to further their own valuable contributions to the industry.’
Artistic Advisor Elia Suleiman added that films by such masters touch the soul unlike any other.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s films express a rich poetic beauty that can only come with deep contemplation and meditation. A profound window into modern Russian society, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s films shine with an unsettling narrative brilliance. Gianfranco Rosi presents a gritty reality with a gravitas that holds you to an unavoidable empathy. All three masters are exceptional filmmakers who define what it is to continuously elevate the standards of world cinema.’
Previous Qumra Masters
Previous Qumra Masters include Argentina’s eminent Lucrecia Martel (The Swamp, The Holy Girl/ The Headless Woman); internationally acclaimed Portuguese producer Paulo Branco; Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® winning Iranian master Asghar Farhadi (A Separation/ The Salesman); French auteur Bruno Dumont (P’tit Quinquin); Cambodian creative documentarian Rithy Panh (The Missing Picture); Mexican actor/ director/ producer Gael Garcia Bernal (Amores Perros/ No/ Deficit), Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® nominated Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu); Romanian auteur and Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days/ Beyond the Hills); Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® winning Bosnian writer/director Danis Tanović (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker/ Tigers, No Man’s Land); Palme d’Or winning Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Winter Sleep); Cannes Grand Prix winning Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase (The Mourning Forest); Oscar® nominated director Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing / The Look of Silence); Cannes Best Screenplay winning writer James Schamus (The Ice Storm) and Aleksandr Sokurov (Russian Ark/ Francofonia).
Two more masters for the 2018 edition of Qumra are yet to be confirmed.
For more information about Qumra, visit the DFI website at dohafilminstitute.com.
