The Doha Film Institute (DFI) has revealed 57 projects that will benefit from its latest round of grants, including new projects by Bassel Ghandour, Hinde Boujemaa, Ismaël El Iraki and Abdallah Alkhatib.
Arab and international filmmakers from 46 countries will receive backing from the DFI in its 2025 autumn grants cycle, including 10 projects by Qatari and Qatar-based filmmakers.
The latest funding round sees the DFI surpass 1,000 supported projects worldwide since the programme’s inception 15 years ago.
London-based Jordanian filmmaker Bassel Ghandour was supported for Occupational Hazards, a dark comedy that chronicles the experiences of a multi-generational Palestinian family. Ghandour co-wrote and produced Theeb, which was nominated for a best foreign-language film Oscar in 2016, while his feature debut The Alleys premiered at Locarno in 2021.
Paris-based Moroccan filmmaker Ismaël El Iraki was backed for Tangier-set Wolfmother about a smuggler who raises her children alone. The Wolfmother script won the development prize at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Souk in 2022. El Iraki’s Zanka Contact played in Venice Horizons in 2020.
Tunisia’s Hinde Boujemaa secured funding for Yammi about a sister and brother who find themselves embroiled in a disagreement that shakes their family ties. Boujemaa’s fiction debut Noura’s Dream played at San Sebastian in 2019.
Palestinian-Syrian director Abdallah Alkhatib’s Chronicles From The Siege, which world premieres in the Berlinale’s Perspectives section next month, was supported with a post production grant. The film features interwoven stories of ordinary people whose lives are upended when their city comes under siege.
The DFI grants programme supports first- and second-time filmmakers globally alongside established MENA directors in Post-Production.
DFI’s 2025 Autumn Grants recipients:
MENA – Feature Narrative – Development
• The Man Who’s Gone (Egy-Qat) dir. Naji Ismail
• The Guardian (Lby-Alg-Can-Qat) dir. Muhannad Lamin
MENA – Feature Narrative – Production
• Occupational Hazards (Jor-UK-KSA-Pal-Qat) dir. Bassel Ghandour
• Wolfmother (Mor-Fra-Bel-Qat) dir. Ismaël El Iraki
• Amnesia (Pal-Jor-Fra-Bel-Can-Qat) dir. Dima Hamdan
• The Side Effects of Trusting Life (Leb-Ger-Nor-Qat) dir. Ahmad Ghossein
• Yammi (Tun-Bel-Qat) dir. Hinde Boujemaa
• The Missing Planet (Egy-Ger-Pol-Ita-Qat) dir. Marouan Omara
• The Wild Goat (Irq-Ger-Nor-Qat) dir. Kardo Mansur
• Girl of Wind (Tun-Qat) dir. Moufida Fedhila
MENA – Feature Narrative – Post-Production
• Algerican Road (Alg-Fra-KSA-Qat) dir. Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche
• Chronicles from the Siege (Alg-Fra-Qat) dir. Abdallah Al-Khatib
• Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep (Pal-Bel-Leb-KSA-Qat) dir. Rakan Mayasi
• Pipes (Leb-KSA-Qat) dir. Karim Kassem
MENA – Feature Documentary – Development
• Remind Me to Forget (working title) (KSA-Qat) dir. Lama Jamjoom
• Everything She Didn’t Say (Alg-Fra-Qat) dir. Farah Abada
• My Name is Khalil (Pal-Fra-Leb-Qat) dir. Bilal Alkhatib
• Where Do I Belong? (Sud-Qat) dir. Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad
• Onions to Forget the Past (Leb-Fra-Qat) dir. Emilien Awada
MENA – Feature Documentary – Production
• Souad and Lamine (Tun-Qat) dir. Mohamed Ali Nahdi
• Sama (Pal-Fra-Qat) dir. Rabab Khamis
MENA – Feature Documentary – Post-Production
• My Mother & I (Egy-Irq-Fra-Qat) dir. Dilpak Majeed
• What Day Are We In? (Pal-Spa-Ger-Qat) dir. Hussein Zuhour
• When The News Breaks You (Qat) dir. Hamad Salem Al-Hajri
• Revolutionaries Never Die (Pal-Qat) dir. Mohanad Yaqubi
• Out of School (Mor-Den-Qat) dir. Hind Bensari
• From Ground Zero + (Pal-Jor-Fra-Qat) dir. Reema Mahmoud et al
MENA – Experimental/Essay – Post-Production
• B.A.H.R Alphabet (Leb-Qat) dir. Sabine El Chamaa
MENA – TV Series – Development
• Dirty Hands (Leb-Qat) dir. Georges Hazim and Maya Dagher
• The Gate of Resurrection (Pal-Qat) dir. Firas Khoury
• Arab Love (Tun-Egy-KSA-Qat) dir. Nejib Belkadhi
MENA – Shorts – Narrative – Development
• Nouria (Qat) dir. Fatima Alnaemi
• HADS (Qat) dir. Aysha Alabdulla
• Akhir El-Saff (working title) (Qat) dir. Maryam Al-Mohammed
• Qadr (Qat) dir. Aisha Al-Khanji
MENA – Shorts – Narrative – Production
• A World of Donkeys (Qat-Uzb) dir. Majid Al-Remaihi
• Ice-Cream (Qat) dir. M.A Fakhroo
• To the North (Pal-Fra-Qat) dir. Amer Nasser
• The Line Between Us (Egy-Fra-Qat) dir. Hind Metwalli
• Aleppo Fresh (Jor-Qat) dir. Ghalia Haddad
• There Are No Rabbits in Gaza (Jor-Nor-Lux-Egy-Spa-Qat) dir. Maram Soboh and Widad Shafakoj
• A Woman Waiting (Mor-Qat) dir. Zahra Berrada
• The Bombardment (Qat) dir. Mahdi Ali Ali
• Mafar (Qat) dir. Khalifa Al-Kuwari
• Dino’s Last Day (Alg-Fra-Qat) dir. Rayane Mcirdi
MENA – Shorts – Narrative – Post-Production
• Abu Fanoos (Qat) dir. Amira Abujbara and Horia El Hadad
MENA – Shorts – Documentary – Production
• Near – Far: On The Sea Road (working title) (Pal-Qat) dir. Fitnat Waked
Non-MENA – Feature Narrative – Post-Production
• The Devil’s Wells (Chi-Arg-Bra-Fra-Qat) dir. Jairo Boisier Olave
• My Semba (Ang-Qat) dir. Hugo Salvaterra
• House of the Wind (Cam-Fra-Bel-Ben-KSA-Qat) dir. Auguste Kouemo Yanghu
• Fuxi: Joy in Four Chapters (HK-Twn-Jpn-Fra-Qat) dir. Qiu Jiongjiong
• Filipiñana (Sin-GBR-Phi-Fra-Neth-Qat) dir. Rafael Manuel
Non-MENA – Feature Documentary – Post-Production
• 32 Meters (Irn-Qat) dir. Morteza Atabaki
• Anatomy of a Genocide (Nor-Swe-Ger-Cro-Qat) dir. Torstein Grude
• The Language of Water (Ven-Dom-Per-Qat) dir. Jeissy Trompiz
• The Kartli Kingdom (Geo-Fra-Qat) dir. Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel
• American Doctor (US-Pal-Mal-Den-Qat) dir. Poh Si Teng
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