Mexican actor-filmmakers Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, and French filmmaker Alice Diop are among the Masters for the 2026 edition of Qumra, the development lab run by Qatar’s Doha Film Institute (DFI).
Garcia Bernal returns to the event having attended Qumra’s first edition as a Master in 2015.
The trio will be joined by Moroccan filmmaker and actor Faouzi Bensaidi; and Argentinian composer Gustavo Santaolalla.
The quintet will each give a masterclass to the Qumra attendees, at the event held from March 27 to April 1 this year.
Known for his on-screen roles in films including Amores perros, Y tu mama también and The Motorcycle Diaries, Garcia Bernal has directed two features: 2007’s Déficit, which debuted at Cannes; and 2019’s Chicuarotes, which started at Toronto.
Luna appeared in Y tu mama también with Garcia Bernal, since when he has established an international career with roles in 2016 Star Wars film Rogue One and prequel series Andor, and Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico.
After documentaries including Berlin 2021 Encounters selection We, Diop’s fiction feature debut Saint Omer launched in Competition at Venice 2022 winning the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize and Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Best First Film, and was France’s entry to the following year’s international feature Oscar.
Bensaidi has directed features including 2023 comedy Deserts; and as an actor has appeared in films by Jacques Audiard, Nadir Mokneche and Betrand Bonello.
Santaolalla won consecutive Oscars for best original score, in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain and 2007 for Babel; while his other awards include two Grammys and 19 Latin Grammys.
“Qumra was created to ensure that emerging filmmakers are not only supported, but truly seen—artistically, professionally and globally,” said DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi. “Welcoming these luminaries as our 2026 Qumra Masters reflects our belief that generous mentorship can change creative trajectories.”
“Gael García Bernal’s return to Qumra is especially meaningful, having been a Master in the very first edition. Over 12 editions, Qumra has grown in scale, ambition and global reach, becoming a space defined by creative exchange, generosity and momentum.”
“Cinema begins where certainty ends,” said filmmaker Elia Suleiman, who is artistic advisor at the DFI. “It exists in the tension between what is seen and what is felt, offering a language beyond image. At Qumra, we gather not to teach, but to open doors. The exchange reshapes perception. And from that shift, new worlds are imagined by those who dare to see differently.”
Qumra will feature masterclasses, one-on-one mentorship sessions and curated industry meetings, with the full list of participating projects to be announced shortly.
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