The very recent history of Qatari cinema
Although there is no doubt that filmmakers had already set up shop in Qatar before the 2000s, Qatari fiction production only began at the dawn of the 21st century and is still expanding rapidly 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, this structure supports a variety of film productions and from the outset has supported a large-scale festival, in partnership with the Tribeca festival, founded in 2001 by Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro. Even though this event disappeared in 2012, it contributed to put Qatar on the map of film countries, 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 for the first time the landscapes of North Qatar to the screen. Since then, the country has seen a generation of young female directors flourish, 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) or Nouf al-Sulaiti(Gubgub, 2018) are building the future of the national cinema, through short fictions or documentaries, inspiring in turn other filmmakers. Recently, And Then They Burn the Sea by Majid Al-Remaihi (2021) was selected in the hopeful category at the Locarno Film Festival.
Giving the taste of cinema in Qatar
In addition to this support, the DFI also promotes cinema through two national events. The Ajyal festival, dedicated to the younger generation and young talent, is held every year in Katara, Doha's "cultural village". Qumra, a project incubator for filmmakers, technicians and producers in the region, is another. In addition to these two events, the cinema network is expanding rapidly, allowing Qataris who love the art form to discover local and international productions on the big screen. Stop by the Novo Cinemas for a film break.
International shoots and blockbusters
Finally, many films have chosen Qatar as a co-producer or as a shooting location, thanks to the support of the Doha Film Institute. For example, Jean-Jacques Annaud's Black Gold (2011) tells the story of the oil boom in an epic fresco with Tahar Rahim and Antonio Banderas. Other notable productions have also been co-produced in Qatar, such as Deniz Gamze Ergüven's Mustang (2015), Asghar Farhadi 's The Client (2016) or Nadine Labaki's Capharnäum (2018). Proof that the country has succeeded in imposing itself on the international scene as the new epicenter of Arab cinema, not to mention that it is also in Qatar that the news channel Al-Jazeera was born.
