Twenty-three feature-length and eleven short film projects at various stages of production have been selected to benefit from the experience of the Qumra Masters, as well as bespoke mentorship and business meetings with international experts. The primary motive of this international gathering of creative film professionals is to contribute to the development of emerging voices in cinema, with a special focus on first- and second-time filmmakers.

Click here to download Qumra 2018 Catalogue.

Feature Narrative: Development

• Behind Closed Doors

  Hend Fakhroo

  
  

  Six-year-old Leila wakes up one day to find her mother gone, with only her father to take care of her. After months of trying, the small family finally settles into an emotional equilibrium, only to have the mother suddenly return.

  

• Dead Dog (working title)

  Sarah Francis

  
  

  When Farid, a 60-year-old man living abroad, visits his wife, he learns that his beloved dog has died. Tensions arise and Farid confesses he is returning home for good.

  

• A Gaza Weekend

  Basil Khalil

  
  

  When a viral epidemic consumes Israel, Gaza becomes the safest place in the region.

  

• Khuzama

  A.J. Al Thani

  
  

  A Bedouin girl dreams of exploring the desert – until she discovers it is not what she had imagined it to be.

  

• Noura Dreams

  Hinde Boujemaa

  
  

  Noura struggles to raise her three children alone while her husband is in jail – until she meets Lassaad. Their plans to be together, however, are jeopardised by the impending release of her husband, and the two decide to flee.

  

• The Unknown Saint

  Alaa Eddine Aljem

  
  

  After years in captivity, a thief returns to retrieve the money he stole and discovers a mausoleum unexpectedly built on the site where he stashed the money.

  

• The Voice of Amirah

  Khalifa Al-Thani

  
  

  After Amirah’s vengeful half-sister Assyah steals her private journal, secrets come out, and these began to jeopardize her freedom of pursuing an education. Amirah’s relationship with her neglectful father is re-enacted once he begins to see the strength in her.

  

Feature Documentary: Development

• Displaced in Heaven

  Khaled Jarrar

  
  

  By following a family across the Balkan route, a Palestinian director plunges into the horror of exile in a desperate need to recover his lost memories.

  

• Naz (working title)

  Omar El-Khairy, Ana Naomi de Sousa

  
  

  ‘Naz’ is a feature-length documentary that explores the historical and cultural formations of the British Yemeni boxer Prince Naseem Hamed. It is a film that not only celebrates a forgotten era, but also sheds light on where we are now.

  

• Suspended Wives

  Merieme Addou

  
  

  ‘Suspended Wives’ follows three women who were abandoned by their husbands, and their lengthy battle to obtain divorces.

  

Feature Essay: Development

• The Fifth Resurrection of Farid

  Khalid Youssef

  
  

  In Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, a new life is awarded to Olympic champion, pilot, Hollywood actor, war hero, and all-around professional hell-raiser Farid Semeka.

  

Feature Narrative: Works-in-Progress

• 1982

  Oualid Mouaness

  
  

  When 11-year-old Wissam decides to tell a classmate that he loves her, his will is challenged, his courage falters and an impending war threatens to separate them permanently.

  

• A Kasha

  hajooj kuka

  
  

  An offbeat Sudanese love story set in a time of civil war.

  

• Sofia

  Meryem Benm’Barek

  
  

  Casablanca. At 22, Sofia is the only daughter in a rather traditional family. While having dinner with her family, she discovers she is about to give birth.

  

Feature Documentary: Works-in-Progress

• Batata

  Noura Kevorkian

  
  

  Filmed over an eight-year period, ‘Batata’ documents the life of a charismatic Syrian migrant worker Maria. An intimate story of love, friendship and perseverance set to the back-drop of an age-old conflict between Syria and Lebanon.

  

• Chaos

  Sara Fattahi

  
  

  The story of three Syrian women, each living in a different time and place, separated by the very things that unite them – fear and trauma.

  

• Tiny Souls

  Dina Naser

  
  

  A documentary film that portrays the changes in Marwa’s life, as she goes from childhood to adolescence within the walls of the Al Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, reflecting its effect on her reality and future.

  

• Underdown

  Sarah Kaskas

  
  

  ‘Underdown’ is the pulsating journey of three unbreakable characters struggling to live below the poverty line in the chaos of Beirut.

  

Feature Narrative: Picture Lock

• Late to Die Young

  Dominga Sotomayor

  
  

  In an isolated community, Sofía, Clara, and Lucas prepare for New Year’s Eve. They may live far from the dangers of the city, but not from those of nature.

  

• The Load

  Ognjen Glavonić

  
  

  During the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999, Vlada is driving a truck. He does not know what the load is, but his cargo slowly becomes his burden.

  

• Weldi

  Mohamed Ben Attia

  
  

  A father is confronted by his own reality and has to question himself and his choices.

  

Feature Documentary: Picture Lock

• Constructions

  Fernando Martín Restelli

  
  

  A 60-year-old watchman of buildings under construction has a second chance in life to become a father.

  

• Nine Months War

  László Csuja

  
  

  Jani has left his family to serve in the Ukrainian Army for nine months. His mother wants her son back. Jani just wants independence.

  

Short Narrative: Development

• Bandits

  Sara Al Obaidly

  
  

  Two young rebels leave behind their London lives for dreams of the Middle East, but when reality sets in they realize they have taken on more than they bargained for.

  

• Connect

  Maha Al-Jefairi

  
  

  A young mother dies and is brought back to life in a robotic body – and must confront her new reality, in which her six-year-old son is afraid of her.

  

• Hatshepsut in the Box

  Hadeer Omar

  
  

  In a world where people wear transparent boxes on their heads to reveal their identities, 14-year-old Leila goes rogue and divides the materials in her box to become more like the Pharaoh Hatshepsut.

  

• Al Sit

  Suzannah Mirghani

  
  

  In a Sudanese farming village, old Al Sit must be consulted for her blessings ahead of any wedding. But in a modernising world, does the matriarch’s word hold any power?

  

Short Documentary: Development

• Pastimes

  Majid Al Remaihi

  
  

  ‘Pastimes’ interrogates the repetition of traditional scenery in painting practice in Doha, and the factors that sustain as well as complicate it.

  

Short Narrative: Work-in-Progress

• Amphitheatre

  Mahdi Ali Ali

  
  

  A young girl rebels against her family’s traditions in front of a professional photographer’s lens.

  

• Burn the Bird

  Zahed Bata

  
  

  Samaa and her son Sari drive out in the dead of night to bury Naghnoush, their pet parrot. Ultimately, they realise the only way to set him free is to set him on fire.

  

• Chained Prey

  Mohammed Refaat

  
  

  A domestic falcon who lives a life of prestige at his falconer’s house in Doha faces the threat of losing his secure lifestyle forever.

  

• Gubgub

  Noof Al-Sulaiti

  
  

  An adventurous young girl goes crab-hunting with her father and brother. Discouraged when her father undervalues her accomplishments compared to her brother’s, she sets out to win her father’s approval.

  

• Sh’hab

  Amal Al-Muftah

  
  

  Upon hearing a myth about falling stars, a young girl’s curiosity is sparked. When night falls on Al Wakrah village, she sets out in her father’s boat to chase the fabled comets.

  

Short Documentary: Work-in-Progress

• Okht Rjal

  Obada Yousef Jarbi

  
  

  When switching gender roles becomes necessary for survival, three women become the breadwinners for their families.

  

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