The Doha Film Institute's Qumra incubator is set to begin on Friday, offering six days of master classes, labs, and mentoring sessions. Over 200 industry professionals, including programmers from major festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Toronto, and Berlin, are expected to attend the event in the Qatari capital.
Qumra, an Arab word believed to be the origin of the word 'camera,' focuses on supporting first and second works by Arab directors while also extending support to projects from other regions. Mentors will engage with more than 40 projects from 20 countries in various stages of development or post-production through one-on-one meetings, master classes, and mentoring sessions.
Projects in development will receive script consulting, marketing advice, and co-production guidance, along with individual matchmaking opportunities. Projects in post-production will be showcased in closed rough-cut and picture lock screenings for leading festival programmers, broadcasters, market representatives, sales agents, and distributors.
Notable Arabic features to be presented include Tunisian director Mehdi M. Barsaoui's 'Aïcha,' French Moroccan director Saïd Hamich Benlarbi's 'Across the Sea,' the directorial debut of Egyptian cinematographer Muhammed Hamdy titled 'Perfumed with Mint,' and Palestinian director Mohammed Almughanni's documentary 'Son of the Streets.'
This year's Qumra masters, including Leos Carax, Toni Collette, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martín Hernández, and Jim Sheridan, will engage in onstage conversations and mentorship sessions. International sales companies like Alphaviolet, Bac Films, Films Boutique, Indie Sales, Mediawan, MK2, and New Europe Film Sales will be present, along with regional distributors such as Film Clinic, Front Row Entertainment, Metropolis Art Cinema, and MADSolutions.
Production companies and producers from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Palestine, as well as European and U.S.-based entities, are scheduled to attend Qumra. The event's 10th edition will take place from March 1-6 in Doha.
