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Tribune News Network
Doha
AN impressive slate of 39 projects by first- and second-time filmmakers from around the world and established names from the Arab world have been selected for the Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) Spring 2020 Grants cycle. With 30 projects from the MENA region, including six helmed by Qatari filmmakers, the programme continues in its mission to nurture a new generation of creative talents and support the development of original and compelling content. Highlighting the central role of women in cinema, 18 of the chosen projects are by talented female directors.
Out of the nine projects from beyond the MENA region, Diane Bouzgarrou and Thomas Jenkoe’s The Last Hillbilly, was one was confirmed at Cannes parallel section France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (ACID) earlier this year for its special 2020 programme. Moreover, four first-time grantee countries entered the programme this year, including Colombia, Haiti, Bangladesh, Tanzania, and one Virtual Reality (VR) short project - Razan AlSalah’s The Greatest Wait (After the Last Sky), which masterfully explores a virtual return to Palestine and an aesthetic of land reclamation within virtual space - was granted for the first time. Underlining the programme’s role as a key contributor to the region’s creative industries, three projects are by established MENA filmmakers: Adil El Fadili’s My Dad Is Not Dead; Shawkat Amin Korki’s The Exam; and Dalila Ennadre’s Jean Genet, Our Father of Flowers.
DFI’s Chief Executive Officer Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said: “Over the last nine years, the Doha Film Institute’s Grants Programme has supported powerful stories and moving storytelling across a broad spectrum of issues and perspectives and has evolved into a key initiative for the next generation of filmmakers from the Arab world and beyond. The programme echoes our core mission to amplify important voices of our time and help talents realise their creative aspirations, to develop and support world cinema while fostering cultural diversity.
“We proudly look towards past and future grant recipients as an extension of DFI’s ever-lasting commitment to the development of independent cinema and are delighted to see the inclusion of new countries covered within this cycle. It is a testament to the programme’s growing acclaim among outstanding young filmmakers globally who entrust their creative vision to our funding initiatives,” she added.
The recipients of the 2020 Spring Grants are as follows:
In the Feature Narrative (Post-Production) category, the films that have received the grants include Gaza My Love (France, Germany, Portugal, Palestine, Qatar) by Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser; The Gravedigger (Somalia, France, Germany, Qatar) by Khadar Ahmed; My Dad Is Not Dead (Morocco, Qatar) by Adil El Fadili; The Exam (Iraq, Germany, Qatar) by Shawkat Amin Korki; Amparo (Colombia, Sweden, Germany, Qatar) by Simon Mesa Soto; Freda (Haiti, Benin, France, Qatar) by Gessica Fabiola; Ghosts (Turkey, Qatar) by Azra Deniz Okyay; Rehana Maryam Noor (Bangladesh, Singapore, Qatar) by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; Tug of War (Tanzania, South Africa, Germany, Qatar) by Amil Shivji; and In White Building (Cambodia, France, China, Qatar) by Kavich Neang.
Films in the Feature Documentary (Post-Production) category are: Our Choices (Syria, France, Qatar) by Salah Al Ashkar; Jean Genet, Our Father of Flowers (Morocco, France, Qatar) by Dalila Ennadre; Speedboats (Italy, France, Qatar) by Yuri Ancarani; and The Last Hillbilly (France, Qatar) by Diane Bouzgarrou and Thomas Jenkoe.
Aleph (Croatia, USA, Qatar) by Iva Radivojevi?; has received the DFI grant in Feature Experimental or Essay (Post-Production) category.
LABAN: The False Prophets of Johann Sebastian Bach (Lebanon, France, Georgia, Germany, Qatar) by Daniel Joseph and In Hounds (Morocco, France, Belgium, Qatar) by Kamal Lazraq have received the grant in Feature Narrative (Production) category.
Films that have received the grant in Feature Documentary (Production) category are: In the House of My Father (Morocco, Belgium, Qatar) by Rachida El Garani; Land of Women (Egypt, Denmark, Qatar) by Nada Riyadh; and In The Curious Mr. Daoud (Algeria, Qatar) by Sid Ahmed Semiane.
In Feature Narrative (Development, Set in the summer of 1958, Night in a Glass of Water (Lebanon, France, Qatar) by Carlos Chahine and In The Storms (Algeria, France, Qatar) by Dania Reymond-Boughenou have received the grant.
In Feature Documentary (Development) category, Big Boys Don’t Cry (Egypt, Germany, Qatar) by Muhammad Mustapha and The Nablus Runner (Algeria, Palestine, France, Switzerland, Qatar) by Haïcha Ladrouz have received the grant.
Short narratives that have won the grant include, A Proposal (Qatar) by Nadia Alkhater, Body and Soul (Qatar) by Ala’a Hamash, Revenge Knows Nothing (Qatar) by Abdulla Al Janahi and Abdulaziz Khashabi; In Smile You Deserve It (Qatar) by Ibrahim Albuainain, The Day Vladimir Died (Lebanon, Germany, Qatar) by Fadi Syriani, In The Key (working title) (Palestine, France, Germany, Qatar) by Rakan Mayasi, In The Last Displaced (Iraq, Qatar) by Muhannad Al Sudany, and In Under Her Skin (Qatar, Algeria, France) by Meriem Mesraoua.
Shadows (Jordan, Qatar) by Rand Beiruty has won the award in Short Documentary (Production) category whereas The Greatest Wait (After the Last Sky) (Palestine, France, Canada, Qatar) by Razan AlSalah and The Shadow of the Butterflies (Morocco, France, Qatar) by Sofia El Khyari have got grant in Short Experimental, Essay or VR – Production category.
Furthermore, Oddity Tales from a Strange Land (Jordan, Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Qatar) by Ahmad Samara has received the grant in TV Series (Development) category while The Closet Sessions (Jordan, Qatar) by Ahmad Satti Ibrahim, Traditional Qatari Songs (Qatar) by Aisha Al Jaidah and In five-minute episodes, Zyara - Season Five (Lebanon, Qatar) by Muriel Aboulrouss have received the DFI grant in Web Series (Production) category.
Doha
AN impressive slate of 39 projects by first- and second-time filmmakers from around the world and established names from the Arab world have been selected for the Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) Spring 2020 Grants cycle. With 30 projects from the MENA region, including six helmed by Qatari filmmakers, the programme continues in its mission to nurture a new generation of creative talents and support the development of original and compelling content. Highlighting the central role of women in cinema, 18 of the chosen projects are by talented female directors.
Out of the nine projects from beyond the MENA region, Diane Bouzgarrou and Thomas Jenkoe’s The Last Hillbilly, was one was confirmed at Cannes parallel section France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (ACID) earlier this year for its special 2020 programme. Moreover, four first-time grantee countries entered the programme this year, including Colombia, Haiti, Bangladesh, Tanzania, and one Virtual Reality (VR) short project - Razan AlSalah’s The Greatest Wait (After the Last Sky), which masterfully explores a virtual return to Palestine and an aesthetic of land reclamation within virtual space - was granted for the first time. Underlining the programme’s role as a key contributor to the region’s creative industries, three projects are by established MENA filmmakers: Adil El Fadili’s My Dad Is Not Dead; Shawkat Amin Korki’s The Exam; and Dalila Ennadre’s Jean Genet, Our Father of Flowers.
DFI’s Chief Executive Officer Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said: “Over the last nine years, the Doha Film Institute’s Grants Programme has supported powerful stories and moving storytelling across a broad spectrum of issues and perspectives and has evolved into a key initiative for the next generation of filmmakers from the Arab world and beyond. The programme echoes our core mission to amplify important voices of our time and help talents realise their creative aspirations, to develop and support world cinema while fostering cultural diversity.
“We proudly look towards past and future grant recipients as an extension of DFI’s ever-lasting commitment to the development of independent cinema and are delighted to see the inclusion of new countries covered within this cycle. It is a testament to the programme’s growing acclaim among outstanding young filmmakers globally who entrust their creative vision to our funding initiatives,” she added.
The recipients of the 2020 Spring Grants are as follows:
In the Feature Narrative (Post-Production) category, the films that have received the grants include Gaza My Love (France, Germany, Portugal, Palestine, Qatar) by Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser; The Gravedigger (Somalia, France, Germany, Qatar) by Khadar Ahmed; My Dad Is Not Dead (Morocco, Qatar) by Adil El Fadili; The Exam (Iraq, Germany, Qatar) by Shawkat Amin Korki; Amparo (Colombia, Sweden, Germany, Qatar) by Simon Mesa Soto; Freda (Haiti, Benin, France, Qatar) by Gessica Fabiola; Ghosts (Turkey, Qatar) by Azra Deniz Okyay; Rehana Maryam Noor (Bangladesh, Singapore, Qatar) by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; Tug of War (Tanzania, South Africa, Germany, Qatar) by Amil Shivji; and In White Building (Cambodia, France, China, Qatar) by Kavich Neang.
Films in the Feature Documentary (Post-Production) category are: Our Choices (Syria, France, Qatar) by Salah Al Ashkar; Jean Genet, Our Father of Flowers (Morocco, France, Qatar) by Dalila Ennadre; Speedboats (Italy, France, Qatar) by Yuri Ancarani; and The Last Hillbilly (France, Qatar) by Diane Bouzgarrou and Thomas Jenkoe.
Aleph (Croatia, USA, Qatar) by Iva Radivojevi?; has received the DFI grant in Feature Experimental or Essay (Post-Production) category.
LABAN: The False Prophets of Johann Sebastian Bach (Lebanon, France, Georgia, Germany, Qatar) by Daniel Joseph and In Hounds (Morocco, France, Belgium, Qatar) by Kamal Lazraq have received the grant in Feature Narrative (Production) category.
Films that have received the grant in Feature Documentary (Production) category are: In the House of My Father (Morocco, Belgium, Qatar) by Rachida El Garani; Land of Women (Egypt, Denmark, Qatar) by Nada Riyadh; and In The Curious Mr. Daoud (Algeria, Qatar) by Sid Ahmed Semiane.
In Feature Narrative (Development, Set in the summer of 1958, Night in a Glass of Water (Lebanon, France, Qatar) by Carlos Chahine and In The Storms (Algeria, France, Qatar) by Dania Reymond-Boughenou have received the grant.
In Feature Documentary (Development) category, Big Boys Don’t Cry (Egypt, Germany, Qatar) by Muhammad Mustapha and The Nablus Runner (Algeria, Palestine, France, Switzerland, Qatar) by Haïcha Ladrouz have received the grant.
Short narratives that have won the grant include, A Proposal (Qatar) by Nadia Alkhater, Body and Soul (Qatar) by Ala’a Hamash, Revenge Knows Nothing (Qatar) by Abdulla Al Janahi and Abdulaziz Khashabi; In Smile You Deserve It (Qatar) by Ibrahim Albuainain, The Day Vladimir Died (Lebanon, Germany, Qatar) by Fadi Syriani, In The Key (working title) (Palestine, France, Germany, Qatar) by Rakan Mayasi, In The Last Displaced (Iraq, Qatar) by Muhannad Al Sudany, and In Under Her Skin (Qatar, Algeria, France) by Meriem Mesraoua.
Shadows (Jordan, Qatar) by Rand Beiruty has won the award in Short Documentary (Production) category whereas The Greatest Wait (After the Last Sky) (Palestine, France, Canada, Qatar) by Razan AlSalah and The Shadow of the Butterflies (Morocco, France, Qatar) by Sofia El Khyari have got grant in Short Experimental, Essay or VR – Production category.
Furthermore, Oddity Tales from a Strange Land (Jordan, Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Qatar) by Ahmad Samara has received the grant in TV Series (Development) category while The Closet Sessions (Jordan, Qatar) by Ahmad Satti Ibrahim, Traditional Qatari Songs (Qatar) by Aisha Al Jaidah and In five-minute episodes, Zyara - Season Five (Lebanon, Qatar) by Muriel Aboulrouss have received the DFI grant in Web Series (Production) category.
