The inaugural Doha Film Festival launches Thursday with the official Middle East premiere of Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s politically charged drama “The Voice of Hind Rajab” and a slew of regional premieres, including Steven Soderbergh’s black comedy “The Christophers” with the director and its star Michaela Coel on hand.
Rami Malek, who is the first actor of Egyptian heritage to win the best actor Oscar (for “Bohemian Rhapsody”), is also set to make the trek to the Qatari capital for the event, which aims to raise Qatar’s profile on the global film industry map.
It’s significant that Ben Hania’s moving drama – which tells the true story of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was stranded in a car that was attacked by Israeli forces in Gaza and later found dead – is launching into the region from Qatar, which has been a key mediator in cease-fire negotiations involving Israel and Hamas.
Equally relevant is the fact that “The Voice of Hind Rajab” previously opened the first edition of the Gaza International Festival for Women’s Cinema held Oct. 26-31 amid the rubble in Deir Al-Balah — a Palestinian city roughly nine miles outside Gaza City in the heart of the Gaza strip, marking the film’s de facto Middle East premiere.
But the film’s real launch in the Arab world will be taking place in Doha.
“I’m very happy that the movie is launching from Doha, who wanted the [regional] premiere,” Ben Hania told Variety, noting that when she told Doha organizers that the “pop up” Gaza fest wanted to show it first, “they immediately said: yes, sure.”
Other films featuring Palestine at the new Doha fest – which will run Nov. 20–28 – are competition entries “Once Upon a Time in Gaza,” directed by Palestinian directorial duo Tarzan and Arab Nasser, which world premiered in Cannes, and Kamal Aljafari’s doc “With Hasan in Gaza.”
Standout titles in the competition strand also include “The President’s Cake” from Iraqi filmmaker Hasan Hadi, about a young school girl chosen to bake a celebratory dessert in observation of Saddam Hussein’s birthday, which is representing Iraq at the Oscars; “Khartoum,” the potent doc about five residents forced to flee the Sudanese capital’s conflict that launched from Sundance; and Iranian director Ali Asgari’s dark comedy about Iranian film censorship, “Divine Comedy.”
“The Christophers” will be among the Doha fest’s special screenings that also include Jim Sheridan’s courtroom drama “Re-Creation”; Andy Mundy-Castle’s doc “Shoot the People,” about Nigerian photographer and activist Misan Harriman; Yasser Ashour’s “My Story,” about the life and political journey of Syrian actor and activist Jamal Soliman – who will be honored during the festival’s opening ceremony. Then there is the world premiere of Qatari thriller “Sa3oud Wainah” by Mohammed Al-Ibrahim, produced by Katara Studios, which stands as testimony to Qatar’s moviemaking ambitions.
Besides Soderbergh, Coel and Malek, other prominent names set to make the trek to the Qatari capital comprise Turkish TV talents Engin Altan Duzyatan (“Resurrection: Ertuğrul”) and Hazal Kaya (“Midnight at the Pera Palace”); Tunisian/Egyptian multi-hyphenate Dorra Zarrouk (“Walls,” “Zombie Goes Zombie”); and Palestinian stars Saleh Bakri and Hiam Abbass (“Succession”).
The new Doha Film Festival is run by the Doha Film Institute. It transforms the DFI’s existing Ajyal Film Festival, dedicated to youth and family-friendly cinema, into a more ambitious international event for a broader audience. The new fest has four competition strands: international feature film competition, short film competition, the Ajyal film competition (judged by the festival’s unique youth jury), and the Made in Qatar competition, dedicated to projects made in Qatar regardless of the director’s provenance.
The Doha Film Festival is being endowed with a total prize pot of over $300,000 that places it on a monetary par with Saudi Arabia’s more glitzy Red Sea Film festival in Jeddah.
The Nov. 20–28 event is the latest addition to an already crowded Arab film festival calendar during the Fall/Winter season. The Cairo fest runs Nov. 12-21, the Marrakech fest runs Nov. 28-Dec. 6 and Red Sea’s fifth edition is set for Dec. 4-13.
Just as the tiny Arab state, rich in oil and gas, diversifies from the energy sector into cultural and media and entertainment — as attested by broadcaster Al Jazeera and the 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament — the DFI has steadily grown into a crucial cornerstone of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region film industry.
“As Qatar’s cultural presence expands and the regional film landscape matures, we saw an opportunity to elevate our festival offering. Doha Film Festival (DFF) builds on Ajyal’s success but introduces broader industry engagement, global programming and new pathways for cultural exchange,” DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Al Remaihi recently told Variety.
The Doha Film Festival does not have a structured market. The DFI already has a unique event called Qumra, an incubator and co-production market that helps foster first and second works, mostly by Arab directors. Qumra, which was conceived by the DFI following the failure of the Tribeca Doha Film Festival, which ran from 2009 until 2012, recently held its 11th edition. Qumra mentors this year included Johnnie To, Walter Salles and Darius Khondji.
However the Doha fest does have an industry program presented by the Qatar Film Committee, an official body that is part of the Media City Qatar hub and is tasked with driving growth of the country’s entertainment industry. This program will include a series of panels held by, among others, former MSNBC broadcast journalist Mehdi Hassan, founder of media company Zeteo; Egyptian journalist and Palestinian rights advocate Rahma Zein; and Emmy-nominated journalist and Vice and HBO correspondent Ahmed Shihab-Eldin.
It will be interesting to see if and how this new festival will succeed in strengthening Qatar’s cultural soft power.