The second Doha Film Festival runs from November 19 to 27. It opens with Sara Ishaq’s The Station, set at a women-only petrol station in war-torn Yemen. Fifteen films compete in the International Feature Competition, which awards $185,000 in prizes. Four Palestinian films appear in the lineup.
The Opening Film
The Station is the Yemeni-Scottish director Sara Ishaq’s debut feature. It follows petrol station owner Layal, played by Manal Al-Mulaiki, who runs a rare sanctuary for women. The film premiered at Cannes’ Critics’ Week in May. Doha will host its MENA premiere on November 19. It is a Yemeni, Jordanian, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian and Qatari co-production.
The International Feature Competition
The competition includes 15 films from four continents. Eleven received support from the Doha Film Institute’s grants programme. Seven were directed by women. Highlights include:
- Hosam Abu Dan’s Thirteen in Gaza, about a motherless 13-year-old girl and her father in a Gaza displacement camp. It won the NETPAC Award at Toronto.
- Tala Hadid’s Bardi, about Morocco’s Tbourida horse tradition. It premiered at the New York Film Festival’s Currents section.
- Auguste Bernard Kouemo’s House of the Wind, about an 80-year-old woman who builds a house in Yaoundé hoping her children will return. It won the Lion of the Future and the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize at Venice.
- Rafael Manuel’s Filipiñana, which won a Special Jury Award at Sundance.
Other titles include Mohanad Yaqubi’s Revolutionaries Never Die and Rabab Khamis’s Sama.
Prizes and Juries
A five-member jury awards Best Narrative ($75,000), Best Documentary ($50,000), Best Artistic Achievement ($45,000) and Best Performance ($15,000). In addition, the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) joins for the first time with a three-member jury. The International Feature Competition is one of four main competitions. The others are the International Short Film Competition, the Ajyal Film Competition and Made in Qatar.
Access for Film Lovers
The festival has introduced its first accreditation programme for film lovers, according to The Peninsula. Ajyal programmes target young audiences, with a jury for ages 16 to 25 and a film club for ages 8 to 15. Early-bird accreditation and industry deadlines fall in early November, so check the festival’s website.
A Festival That Pushed On
Deadline notes that the Doha Film Institute is holding its second edition despite the difficult geopolitical situation in the Gulf. At the same time, other regional festivals have been postponed or cancelled this autumn. As a result, Doha’s lineup signals confidence and a strong focus on Arab and Palestinian cinema.
