(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Filmmakers from the region and beyond, whose projects are nurtured at Qumra, highlighted its role as“one of a kind” and“very important for the world today” to build new voices in cinema, and lauded the Doha Film Institute's (DFI) support for enhancing the credibility of their projects.
This year, Qumra is mentoring 44 films, including feature narratives, documentaries, web series and shorts from 23 countries as part of DFI's mission to accelerate the success of emerging filmmakers and enable them to take their projects to audiences around the world.
The selected Qumra projects stand out for their powerful, original, and creative themes and cinematic sensibilities. One such project is the web series Miara (Morocco, Qatar), directed by Talal Selhami and Jawad Lahlou. Set in the 8th Century, North Africa, it is about a young Berberian woman, who discovers that her murdered father was a fallen Viking King.
“Recreating the period is a painstaking process, which is why financing is central to accomplishing this,” said Talal.“We have already shot the pilot, and the encouragement we receive from Qumra is exceptional. We hope to engage with more producers and this platform offers us that opportunity.”
Merging the worlds of cinema and dance, Backstage (Morocco, Tunisia, Belgium, France) by Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane, is about Aida, a member of a contemporary dance troupe touring Morocco. Afef said she drew on her experience as a professional dancer and theatre for the film. The challenge in their journey was financing.“Today, we are close to landing our 'ship' safely by the shore.” Benkirane said Qumra brings the crème la de crème of the industry to mentor emerging projects.
Amanda Nell Eu, director of Tiger Stripes (Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Indonesia, Qatar), said being at Qumra has given a wide rope for her to network with distributors, film festival directors and other professionals.
Laila Abbas, from Palestine who is currently in the production stage of her film Thank You for Banking with Us! (Germany, Palestine, Qatar), received initial funding from DFI.“When a very credible organisation like DFI steps in to support you, it makes it easier for others to follow.”
MENAFN13032023000067011011ID1105767701
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.