Emerging filmmakers find their voice in cinema through DFI despite pandemic

'Oddity Tales from a Strange Lab'.

When the pandemic nearly shut down the global film industry, emerging filmmakers in Qatar and the region received a rare opportunity to continue to move their projects forward, with the support of Qumra, the annual talent incubator for Arab cinema of the Doha Film Institute (DFI). Their journeys navigating the last year’s new format of virtual mentorship sessions were shared at this year’s expanded edition, where participants were able to see these projects continue to come to fruition. Presenting a diverse selection of stories, some inspired by the pandemic, many other narratives that have evolved over years, the Qumra Projects shorts and TV/web series reflect how emerging filmmakers view the medium of cinema. Mohamed Berro, director of 'A Tarmac Year' (Qatar/Arabic) about two Lebanese cousins who hijack a plane demanding the release of political prisoners, said he was inspired to make the dark comedy series after “finding dark funny elements in the hijackings. What started as a research for a documentary became compiling a list of odd occurrences in these incidents and high-tension political events.”