Mohaq: Best Feature Film
Dino Dana
Directed by: J.J. Johnson
Dana is a ten-year-old adventure-seeking girl who dreams about all things prehistoric. This palaeontologist-in-training loves science, knowledge, and finding ways to get her older sister Saara to join her. She’s whip-smart and therefore clever enough to know when she needs a helping hand or a new piece of intel to help solve her experiments. Dana is obsessed with dinosaurs because palaeontologists haven’t figured out everything about them yet. Her mission is to fill in the missing pieces as she tries to solve experiment 901—where are all the kid dinos? But before she can complete her work, Dana’s new upstairs neighbour Mateo finds her magical “Dino Field Guide”, which allows him to see dinosaurs in real life too!
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Mohaq: Best Short Film
Hope
Directed by: Abdulla Mohammed Al-Janahi
Aqua, the sea turtle, was born with the disability of having one fin smaller than the other. But he doesn’t let it get in the way of his life’s journey from nest to sea - one fraught with dangerous predators and tragic pollution. This endearingly humorous animation hides a more profound message of perseverance and the importance of being environmentally conscious.
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Hilal: Best Feature Film
Sun Children
Directed by Majid Majidi
The captivating story of 12-year-old Ali and his three friends who work hard to survive on the streets of Tehran. The boys support their families by doing odd jobs in a garage and committing petty crimes on the side to make fast money. In a turn of events that seems almost miraculous, Ali is entrusted to find a hidden treasure underground. He recruits his gang, but first, to gain access to the tunnel, the children must enrol at the Sun School—a charitable institution that tries to educate street kids and child labourers—close to where the treasure is located.
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Hilal: Best Short Film
The Present
Directed by Farah Nabulsi
Yusef (Saleh Bakri) is a family man from the West Bank, battling enormous queues at dawn to get to work every day, exacerbated by severe back pain and surrounded by military blockades. To celebrate his wedding anniversary, he takes his daughter Yasmine on a trip to buy a surprise gift for his wife. Their plan starts well, but eventually, Yusef must grapple between parenting and the humiliating experience of checkpoints. This affecting short about the harsh realities of living in a divided land was the winner of the Audience Award for Best Film at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2020.
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Bader: Best Feature Film
200 Meters
Directed by Ameen Nayfeh
Mustafa (Ali Suliman) and his wife Salwa live a mere 200 metres apart in two Palestinian villages, separated by a dividing wall. One day he gets a call every parent dreads—his son has been in an accident. Rushing to cross the checkpoint, Mustafa is denied on a technicality. But a father’s love won’t give up, and he will do anything to reach his son. A 200-metre distance becomes a 200-kilometre odyssey. Mustafa, left with no choice, attempts to smuggle himself to the other side of the wall.
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Bader: Best Short Film
Woman of steel
Directed by Obada Yousef Jarbi
An earnest and empathetic portrait of a matriarch who works tirelessly for her family. Um Mohamed is a proud mother and a wife. Due to her husband’s post-polio disability, he is incapable of working. As a result, Um Mohamed roams the streets of Irbid, collecting scrap metal and recyclables to sell in the male-dominant industrial area. Though she provides for her family and has undoubtedly earned the title of “breadwinner”, she lacks the recognition and power often afforded to a man in her situation.
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Bariq: Best Short Film
Small Spark
Directed by Julie Rembauville, Nicolas Bianco-Levrin
A cute little mouse lives amongst the books where often embarks on literary pursuits. In the middle of one such novel, his reading candle is suddenly blown out. Forced to find another form of lighting, he sets out on a whacky caper through the house where he must avoid the clutches of a not-too-pleased cat. A mixed-media family adventure where a little rodent brings new meaning to illumination through literature.
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Ajyal Audience Award
200 Meters
Directed by Ameen Nayfeh
Mustafa (Ali Suliman) and his wife Salwa live a mere 200 metres apart in two Palestinian villages, separated by a dividing wall. One day he gets a call every parent dreads—his son has been in an accident. Rushing to cross the checkpoint, Mustafa is denied on a technicality. But a father’s love won’t give up, and he will do anything to reach his son. A 200-metre distance becomes a 200-kilometre odyssey. Mustafa, left with no choice, attempts to smuggle himself to the other side of the wall.
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Made in Qatar: Special Jury Mention
Stranger
Directed by Christophe Buffet and Yasser Mustafa
Khalid is the security guard in an abandoned Qatari elementary school. We follow him as he makes his rounds through the empty classrooms and encounters remnants of the neighbourhood's past residents, some of which remind him of the life he has left behind in Egypt. 'Stranger' is a journey not just into a school and its past, but also a poetic portrait of an immigrant who has left their family and friends for the opportunity of a better salary abroad.
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Made in Qatar: Abdulaziz Jassim Award for Best Performance
Amina Hilal – From ‘Under Her Skin’
Making its world premiere in the Orizzonti Short Films Competition at Venice Film Festival this year, Meriem Mesraoua’s ‘Under Her Skin’ explores a young Algerian girl’s rite of passage as she struggles for control over her self-image. Disturbed by her daughter Sarah’s sudden nervous habit of nail-biting, a domineering mother attempts to correct the behaviour. But deeper issues are at play in this profoundly nuanced portrait of adolescence and rebellion.
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Made in Qatar: Best Narrative
Under Her Skin
Directed by Meriem Mesraoua
Making its world premiere in the Orizzonti Short Films Competition at Venice Film Festival this year, Meriem Mesraoua’s ‘Under Her Skin’ explores a young Algerian girl’s rite of passage as she struggles for control over her self-image. Disturbed by her daughter Sarah’s sudden nervous habit of nail-biting, a domineering mother attempts to correct the behaviour. But deeper issues are at play in this profoundly nuanced portrait of adolescence and rebellion.
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Made in Qatar: Best Documentary
Ander
Directed by Alina Mustafina
Five-year-old Ander lives in Qatar with his family, and outwardly looks like any ordinary, active and joyful kid. But due to his rare and severe allergy to dairy, he is forced to eat separately from his classmates at school. Ander’s mother, who cares for him around the clock, is from Kazakhstan and for Kazakh nomads, dairy along with meat and dough is regarded as a source of life. How can a boy forge his own identity, when the food which was so crucial for his ancestors threatens his very existence?
