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9 months ago
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Qatar’s Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced that Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martín Hernández and Jim Sheridan will serve as Qumra Masters at the 10th edition of its respected talent incubator event, running from March 1 to 6.
They join a long list of top professionals to have participated in the Qumra meeting since its launch in 2014, which has included James Schamus, Naomi Kawase, Asghar Farhadi, Gael Garcia Bernal and Tilda Swinton.
Under the Qumra format, a select group of MENA and international filmmakers and producers of projects supported by the DFI’s grants program attend the six-day talent and project incubator meeting in Doha.
The Qumra Masters give a masterclass and then provide one-on-one mentorship to the partipants alongside a host of other industry professionals in attendance.
French director Carax is currently working on post-production for his personal work It’s Not Me, which follows his award-winning pop-rock melodrama Annette, with other career highlights including Bad Blood (1986) and The Lovers on the Bridge (1991).
Canadian director Egoyan will arrive in Doha fresh from Berlin where he is showing his most recent film Seven Veils, following its world premiere at Toronto.
French filmmaker Denis is taking on the role of Qumra Master for a second time having participated in a virtual edition during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, ahead of a busy 2022, which saw her win the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for Both Sides Of The Blade and compete in Cannes with Stars at Noon.
Mexican supervising sound editor and sound designer Hernández will share insights into his awarding-winning career which includes films such as Birdman (2014) and The Revenant (2015), for which he won Academy Awards.
Irish playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer Sheridan, who is currently working on a documentary about the murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in Ireland in 1996, will discuss his 35-year body of work which includes My Left Foot (1989), In the Name of the Father (1993), In America (2002) and more recent studio movies such as Brothers (2009), and Dream House (2011).
“Our Qumra Masters are bold and visionary filmmakers who have left an indelible imprint in world cinema with unique and innovative approaches to storytelling,” said Elia Suleiman, Artistic Advisor at Doha Film Institute.
“Their cinematic oeuvre stands out for their fearless exploration of the medium. Their perspectives on filmmaking will undoubtedly benefit our young filmmakers, and in turn, contribute to a richer body of works by emerging talents in the region and beyond.”
Over its first nine editions, Qumra has played a significant role in supporting MENA films which have then gone on to achieve acclaim internationally.
“As the Arab world’s first-of-its-kind talent incubator, Qumra has served as the preeminent platform for emerging talents to give their projects a distinct advantage through invaluable networking sessions with leading industry professionals,” said Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Chief Executive Officer of the Doha Film Institute.
