The 10th edition of Qumra, the Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) annual talent incubator for Arab and international cinema, will welcome over 200 film industry professionals representing all aspects of the entire life cycle of film production and exhibition to mentor emerging talent and provide invaluable guidance to take their films to the next level of success.
This year’s mentorship for Qumra filmmakers will be extended beyond in-person meetings from March 1 to 6 to include online sessions from March 9 to 11, further expanding access to the invaluable expertise of industry gurus that will guarantee the success of their projects.
The industry professionals attending Qumra 2024 come from 41 different countries this year – the most to date. Many of the acclaimed film directors, producers, film festival directors, programmers, consultants, fund managers, sales professionals, acquisition heads, script experts, distributors, video on demand (VoD) platforms and broadcasters, and other industry leaders are return participants of Qumra, and have played a defining role in shaping the most exciting new voices in Arab and world cinema.
Qumra 2024’s industry delegates include representatives from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom and USA to Doha for the foremost talent incubator event of the region.
Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Chief Executive Officer of the Doha Film Institute, said: “We are thankful to the generous film industry professionals around the world for the invaluable contributions they will be making at Qumra 2024 to shaping a vibrant future for Arab and world cinema. The guidance, mentorship and support provided by our guests over the past nine years has been pivotal to the global success of some of the world’s most compelling filmmakers. As the region’s foremost incubator hub for emerging talent, Qumra continues to play a defining role in shaping how the world sees cinema, and our industry experts are foundational in achieving this.”
Industry expert mentorship sessions are delivered in two parts: tutorials, consultations, and one-on-one meetings for projects in development; and work-in-progress screenings and feedback sessions for projects in post-production. Qumra supports the full lifecycle of the script-to-screen journey, with the inclusion of VoD and online platforms allowing filmmakers the advantage of looking beyond conventional platforms to expand their audience.
Project Mentors and Consultants
Qumra 2024 project mentors include internationally acclaimed filmmakers Elia Suleiman, Rithy Panh, Ghassan Salhab,Tala Hadid, Karim Ainouz, Talal Derki, Kamal Aljafari , Yasmine Al Massri, and Annemarie Jacir.
Project consultants for 2024 Qumra feature projects include Paolo Bertolin and Violeta Bava, editing consultant Sebastian Sepuldeva and Qutaiba Barhamji, sound mentors Severin Favrieau and Rana Eid, sales experts Gabor Greiner and Aranka Matits, press advisor E. Nina Rothe, script consultants Joelle Touma, Raja Amari and Antoine Waked, producer experts Didar Domeri, Joslyn Barnes, Catherine Dussart and Dora Bouchoucha, project coaches Zsuzsi Bankutiand, Teresa Cavina and Jad Abi Khalil, documentary consultants Brigid O'Shea, Jihan Al Tahri and Shane Smith, and marketing expert Joanna Solecka, among others.
Series projects mentors include producer Neerja Narayanan, writer/director Bassem Breche, coproduction & acquisitions expert Marc Lorber; distribution expert Marike Muselaers and industry & markets specialists Frédéric Pittoors, Gabriele Capolino and Paolo Ciccarelli. Experts advising Qumra Shorts projects include programmers Alice Kharoubi, Julie Rousson, Camille Hebert Benazet, Celine Roustan; producer Karim Aitouna; script consultant Ayman El Amir; distribution expert Irit Neidhart and Wouter Jansen.
Production Guests
Production companies and producers attending Qumra 2024 include Mohamed Hefzy (Film Clinic), Georges Schoucair (Abbout Productions), Lamia Chraibi (La Prod), Ossama Bawardi (Philistine Films), Thanasis Karathanos (Pallas Film), Fabrizio Maltese (Joli Rideau Media), Brandon Harrison (Words And Pictures ), Raphaël Perchet (Echo Studio) and Sébastien Onomo (Special Touch Studios ) among others.
Festival Guests
Film Festival representatives from more than 40 leading events including Berlinale, Venice, Cannes, Locarno, Tribeca, Sarajevo, Sundance, Karlovy Vary, Hot Docs, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Visions du Reel, FIDMARSEILLE, Sheffield Doc Fest, Viennale, Marrakech and others will participate in work-in-progress feedback panels for projects in post-production as well as at industry roundtables.
Sales and Distribution Guests
International sales and distribution firms at Qumra include Alphaviolet, Arthood Entertainment, Autlook Filmsales, Bac Films, Best Friends Forever, CAT & DOCS, Fandango, Film Distribution, Films Boutique, H264 Distribution, Hauts et courts, Heretic, Indie Sales, Jour2fetes, LightDox, Lucky Red, Luxbox, Mediawan, mk2, New Europe Film Sales, Pulsar Content, Square Eyes, Urban Distribution International among others. Regional distributors include Film Clinic, Front Row Entertainment, Metropolis Art Cinema and MAD Solutions.
Industry Guests
There will be a strong representation of film institutes and funds at Qumra 2024 with representatives from Sundance Institute, Point North, Film Independent, Royal Film Commission Jordan, Eurimages, IMS (International Media Support), Sorfond, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC), Chicken & Egg Pictures, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, AFAC - Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Sorfond and Beirut DC.
Qumra Series Guests
Prominent leaders in serialized content and drama series markets such as Miramax, The Gotham, MIA Market Roma, Nordisk Film, Series Mania, Goteborg TV Drama Vision, and Rise Studios will attend Qumra.
Streamers and Broadcasters
Streaming and broadcasting representatives in attendance include Mubi, Under The Milky Way, Shorts of the Week, Shahid, MBC, beIN, TOD, tabii, POV/American Documentary, Inc., TV 2M and TRT. Qatar-based organizations include teams from Al Jazeera Media Network, Katara Studios, Al Araby TV and The Film House.
Directors and producers attached to 40+ projects in development and post-production will take part in Qumra 2024. They include emerging filmmakers from Qatar, as well as recipients of funding from the Institute’s Grants Programme from across the world.
The event will feature industry meetings designed to assist the talents to propel their projects to their next stages of development, through master classes, work-in-progress screenings, bespoke matchmaking sessions and tailored workshops with industry experts. This creative exchange will take place alongside a programme of public screenings of films supported by the Doha Film Institute.