The very recent history of Qatari cinema
Although there's no doubt that filmmakers had already set down their cameras in Qatar before the 2000s, Qatari fiction production only began at the dawn of the 21st century, and is still going strong today. The creation of the Doha Film Institute, integrated into the country's various international development plans, is no stranger to this. Founded in 2010, the Institute supports a wide range of film productions, and from the outset has been a major partner in the Tribeca Film Festival, founded in 2001 by Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro. Although this event disappeared in 2012, it helped put Qatar on the map as a cinema destination, and the state is now attracting more and more film shoots. It was also in 2010 that the first Qatari feature film was released. Clockwise, directed by Khalifa Almuraikhi. Based on an old legend, this adventure film brings the landscapes of North Qatar to the screen for the first time. Since then, the country has seen the emergence of a generation of young female directors, promoted by the producers at the head of the Doha Film Institute. Among them, Amal al-Muftah(Sh'hab, 2018), A.J. Al-Thani(Kashta, 2016) and Nouf al-Sulaiti(Gubgub, 2018) are building the future of national cinema, through short fiction and documentary films, in turn inspiring other filmmakers. Majid Al-Remaihi's And Then They Burn the Sea (2021) was recently selected for the Locarno Festival, in the hopefuls category.
Giving the taste of cinema in Qatar
In addition to this support, the DFI also promotes cinema through two national events. Firstly, the Ajyal festival, dedicated to the younger generation and young talent, held each year in Katara, Doha's "cultural village"; and secondly, Qumra, a project incubator for filmmakers, technicians and producers from the region. Alongside these two events, the network of cinemas is expanding rapidly, enabling Qatar's film-lovers to discover local and international productions on the big screen. Stop off at Cinémas Novo for a cinephile break.
International shoots and blockbusters
Last but not least, a number of films have chosen Qatar as a co-producer or shooting location, thanks to the support of the Doha Film Institute. Jean-Jacques Annaud's L'Or Noir (2011), for example, tells the story of the oil boom in an epic fresco starring Tahar Rahim and Antonio Banderas. Other remarkable productions have also been co-produced in Qatar, including Deniz Gamze Ergüven's Mustang (2015), Asghar Farhadi's Le Client (2016) and Nadine Labaki's Capharnäum (2018). Proof that the country has succeeded in establishing itself on the international scene as the new epicenter of Arab cinema, not forgetting that Qatar is also the birthplace of the Al-Jazeera news channel.
