The third edition of Qumra, the annual industry event by the Doha Film Institute (DFI) aimed at mentoring and promoting new generation of filmmakers, is currently hosting over 100 international film industry experts during the six-day event that started 3 March and will end on 8 March, held at Souq Waqif and at the Museum of Islamic Art.
Delegates this year come from as far as Argentina, United Kingdom, India, The Netherlands, Egypt and the United States.
The Qumra industry programme is centred around 34 projects from Qatar, the Arab region and the rest of the world at various stages of development. The industry sessions are presented in two strands: tutorials, workshops, consultations and one-on-one meetings for projects still in development; and a series of work-in-progress and ‘picture lock’ screenings and feedback sessions for projects in post production.
Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief Executive Officer of the Doha Film Institute, said she was extremely thankful to the enthusiasm and commitment of international film experts who help mentor the emerging talents. She said that because of these film experts, Qumra is now recognised as an important and relevant project incubator in the Middle East that taps into world-class filmmaking expertise.
We have seen many productive and tangible outcomes for the projects developed in the first two editions of Qumra and I am confident that the connections made between emerging filmmakers and industry mentors will further contribute to the growth of a more robust regional film industry and benefit the participants far into the future.’
Among the leading industry names to attend the event this year are: IFFR Director Bero Beyer; Netflix’s Funa Maduka; Dogwoof founder Andy Whittaker; Managing Director of Co-production Office Philippe Bober; Managing Director, Programmer at Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Christophe Leparc; Artistic Director of Festival Del film Locarno Carlo Chatrian; Senior Executive Vice President, ARTE France Cinéma Remi Burah; Filmmaker Tala Hadid and Producer Michel Merkt.
Qumra has three main elements: Master classes by Qumra Masters, which will be led this year by Asghar Farhadi (Iran), Rithy Panh (Cambodia), Bruno Dumont (France), Lucrecia Martel (Argentina) and Paulo Branco (Portugal). All projects selected by the Doha Film Institute will benefit from the industry meetings, with experts taking their work to the next stage.
Visit dohafilminstitute.com for more information.
