(MENAFN - The Peninsula) The Peninsula

Doha: Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced 35 projects by MENA filmmakers from across the world including eight from Qatar have been selected for its Fall 2017 Grants programme aimed at nurturing the new generation of film talents.

Underlining the important role of women in filmmaking, 18 of the chosen projects are by talented female directors.

Announcing the Fall Grants 2017 recipients, Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief Executive Officer of DFI, said: 'Identifying and supporting emerging talents from across the world, and particularly voices from the Arab World, is central to our commitment to nurturing the next generation of filmmakers and contributing to the culture of storytelling. We support filmmakers from Qatar and the wider Arab region, to highlight our distinct voices and cultural identity, and celebrate our values and our shared commonalities.

'The diversity of submissions for this cycle has been exceptional, and we chose the 35 projects for their ability to engage with audiences anywhere in the world. Through our grants programme, we are empowering talented young filmmakers, especially from our region, to help fulfil their creative aspirations. We are proud to be developing the next generation of Arab film talents, and we are delighted to see their numbers continue to grow every year.

To date, the Doha Film Institute has supported over 380 film projects from more than 63 countries including 310 from the MENA region, offering development, production and post-production resources through the Grants programme. Of these, 26 films are by Qatari filmmakers, in addition to the 23 films supported through the Qatari Film Fund.

In addition to Qatari directors, this year's Fall Grantees include projects from Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Egypt, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Serbia, Syria, Tunisia, and the UK.

The Doha Film Institute's Grants programme promotes the original voices of emerging talents in film by encouraging creative interaction and establishing a filmmaking community. In addition to new talent, the programme also supports established names from the MENA region who are recognised for their creative vision and compelling content to set new benchmarks. Two acclaimed directors — Mohamed Zineddaine for The Healer (Morocco, Italy, Qatar) and Merzak Allouache for Divine Wind (Algeria, France, Qatar) are this year's Grantees.

Seven projects from the MENA region, including feature narratives, feature documentaries and short narratives have been awarded development grants.

For the Narrative films they supported the film ‘2030' (Qatar) by Ali Al Sulaiti, Beneath the Dunes (Qatar) by Mohammed Al Ibrahim and Saffron's Land (Morocco, Qatar) by Yassine El Idrissi.
For the Documentary Films they supported Corner Boy (Palestine, UK, Qatar) by Omar El Khairy and My English Cousin (Algeria, Switzerland, France, Qatar) by Karim Sayad.

They also supported the Experimental or Essay film such as Hummus (Lebanon, Canada, Qatar) by Rawane Nassif.

While in the Short Narrative films DFI supported the following, Split-Screen (Qatar) by Nadia Al Khater and Fahad Al Khater, and The Mute (Qatar) by Thamer Al Thani.

The following fifteen MENA films have been awarded production grants such as:Dead Dog (Lebanon, Qatar) by Sarah Francis, Noura In Wonderland (Tunisia, France, Qatar) by Hinde Boujemaa, and The Unknown Saint (Morocco, Qatar) by Alaa Eddine Aljem is about a thief who tries to get back the stolen money he had stashed at a site where a mausoleum now stands, under the Feature Narratives films.

For the Documentary films they chose Chaos (Syria, Austria, Lebanon, Qatar) by Sara Fattahi, Displaced in Heaven (Palestine, Germany, Qatar) by Khaled Jarrar, and The Disappeared (Lebanon, UK, Qatar) by Yasmin Fedda.

For the Experimental or Essay films they chose, The Fifth Resurrection of Farid (Egypt, Qatar) by Khalid Youssef.

While for the short narrative films they chose, The Hope (Syria, Iraq, France, Qatar) by Mohammad Shaikhow, Beit Byoot (Jordan, Qatar) by Mayar Hamdan, If You'll Remember (Qatar, France) by Sara Al-Thani, as well as The Tainted (Qatar, France) by Meriem Mesraoua, and The Time Tree (Lebanon, UK, Qatar) by Celine Cotran.

For the Short Experimental or Essay film they chose Ceuta's Gate (Morocco, France, Lebanon, Qatar) by Randa Maroufi.

On the other hand, 13 projects are also recipients of post-production grants. Of these, six are from the MENA region.

For the Narratives films they chose Divine Wind (Algeria, France, Qatar) by Merzak Allouache, Late to Die Young (Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands, Qatar) by Dominga Sotomayor, The Day I Lost My Shadow (Syria, France, Qatar) by Soudade Kaadan , The Healer (Morocco, Italy, Qatar) by Mohamed Zineddaine , and also The Load (Serbia, France, Croatia, Qatar) by Ognjen Glavonic.

While for the Documentary films they chose 5 Seasons of Revolution (Syria, Germany, Norway, Qatar) by Layla Abyad , Constructions (Argentina, Qatar) by Fernando Martin Restelli , as well as The Nine Months War (Hungary, Qatar) by Laszlo Csuja, Of Fathers and Sons (Syria, Germany, Qatar) by Talal Derki, The Invented Biography (Chile, France, Qatar) by Nicol?s Lasnibat, and The Man Who Stole Banksy (Italy, Qatar) by Marco Proserpio.

For the Experimental or Essay film they chose The Wind Blew On (Iceland, Qatar) by Katrin Olafsdottir.

On the other hand, they chose The Black Veil (Qatar) by Al Jawhara Al Thani under the category of the Short Narrative films.

There are two submission cycles for the Grants programme annually. The next cycle opens January 10 and closes at midnight on January 22.

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