Doha: The Doha Film Institute (DFI) will host a virtual edition of Qumra 2022 which is the annual talent incubator for Arab cinema and beyond, from March 18 to 23.
Dedicated to nurturing new and independent voices in cinema, this year’s edition features a wide range of activities tailored to support emerging talents from their script-to-screen journey. This is the third time Qumra will be conducted online and the eight edition of the programme since its inception in 2014.
DFI Chief Executive Officer, Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said: “Despite the challenging situation globally, we are hosting Qumra 2022 in a virtual format because we believe it is important to support new voices, especially in these times when creative pursuits are even more important. With Qumra, our mission is to empower the global storytelling landscape and emerging voices to create inspiring cinema, exercise creative expression, and transform inspired stories into acclaimed masterpieces.”
“To maintain the current momentum towards success for the stand-out projects, the Institute will proceed with an online programme to support the filmmakers through this challenging period. Over the past seven years, Qumra has been crucial to the success of filmmakers from the Arab world and beyond and in supporting important voices in global storytelling. We hope Qumra Online will continue with its proud tradition of supporting the most promising talent and help share their work with our growing Qumra global community,” she added.
Qumra will roll out an online programme for the selected projects which will include mentorship sessions, in addition to roundtables, meetings and networking sessions. Continuing DFI’s commitment to supporting promising talent in evolving forms of creativity and new possibilities. It will also have sessions dedicated to exploring and developing fresh new projects from the region.
All selected projects will have their one-on-one sessions delivered online, to accelerate the success of filmmakers and prepare them to bring their projects to audiences around the world. Among the participants in the project include directors and producers and emerging filmmakers from Qatar and recipient of funding from DFI’s Grants Programme. Qumra will feature industry meetings designed to assist with propelling projects to their next stages of development, including work-in-progress screenings, bespoke matchmaking sessions and tailored workshops with industry experts.
The Arabic term ‘qumra’ is popularly said to be the origin of the word ‘camera’, and to have been used by the scientist, astronomer and mathematician Alhazen, whose work in optics laid out the principles of the camera obscura.
