DOHA: International film industry experts have lauded the second edition of Qumra, the annual industry event by the Doha Film Institute (DFI), for catalysing the development of a vibrant regional film industry and shaping the skill sets of emerging talent.
More than 100 industry professionals, including international film festival directors, producers, fund managers, script consultants, sales agents, distributors and other experts took part in the event, which comprised Masterclasses, mentoring and one-to-one sessions, and screenings.
Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO of DFI, said: “Last year, we launched Qumra and embarked on an ambitious journey to provide emerging talent with an industry platform to help them build their skills and foster meaningful industry connections. In its second edition, we are excited to see it define its own niche with experts from across the world taking part in the discussions and asserting their commitment to supporting young filmmakers. We thank them for being here in Qatar and sharing their experience with the spirit of generosity that has come to embody this event.”
Qumra Master Joshua Oppenheimer compared the flair of Qumra to that of the Telluride Film Festival.
“This is a very serious even. I have been to only very few film related events of this gravity. It is a place where people are so serious and so questing to find new ways of telling stories that are adequate to the impossible experiences in this region. Being here and listening to people’s stories and questions, and meeting the Masters, I feel like I attended a masterclass,” said Oppenheimer.
Naomi Kawase said that Qumra has a significant role in telling the young generation of the world that they can do something in their own hometowns. “You have filmmakers here from all over the world. And why do they come here? That is because we want to hand down culture to our young generation.”
Aleksandr Sokurov praised the maturity of the filmmakers he mentored during Qumra: “Sometimes it’s very difficult to deal with emerging film-makers because they’re not sure of themselves, they don’t have clear ideas. But here I have seen something very mature, they are really professional.”
A script consultant from Australia, Clare Dobbin described Qumra as an ‘amazing opportunity for filmmakers,’ adding ‘it presents delegates a view of how the entire industry works.”
Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director, Festival del Film Locarno, said the interesting mix of the event ensures an enriching experience for the delegates, who can benefit from the diversity while the ‘human experience’ of one-to-one meetings and spending time in an intimate setting helps industry professionals to understand the young filmmakers and their projects better.
A programmer of Buenos Aires International Film Festival, Violeta Bava said the unique benefit of Qumra is that it ‘really discusses cinema’ with none of the distractions, and presents the opportunity to meet people who are all on the same page.
Matthieu Darras, Artistic Director, Torino Film Lab, said that the intimate setting of Qumra serves in providing ‘an overview of everything about the industry’ for the delegates, describing it as a welcome difference in comparison to film festivals.
Delivering its mandate of supporting the next generation in filmmaking talent, Qumra nurtured 33 projects including 13 narrative feature films, 10 feature documentaries and 10 short films from 19 countries.
The Peninsula
