Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced the recipients of the Qatari Film Fund Spring 2017 grants, dedicated to nurturing home-grown filmmaking talents by providing all-round support to young Qatari directors and bring creative approaches to storytelling.

Launched in 2015, the Qatari Film Fund selects eight shorts and up to four feature projects through two funding cycles per year. Feature films developed through the fund are eligible for financial support for production and one film will be selected for the fund the following year.

Selected short films are eligible for funding up to QR182,500, and DFI will work closely with the filmmakers throughout the development, production and post-production stages.

For the Spring 2017 cycle, six talented Qatari filmmakers have been chosen for the grant from a record number of submissions received, DFI has said in a statement. The awarded projects include the feature narrative Khuzama, by A J al-Thani; the short animation film Fragile by Kholoud al-Ali; the short documentary Untitled Arab Museum Documentary by Majid al-Remaihi; and three short narratives – I Am My Own Guardian by Mahdi Ali Ali; End of the Road by Ahmad al-Sharif; and Nasser Goes to Space by Mohamed al-Mahmeed.

Fatma al-Remaihi, chief executive officer of DFI, said: “Our goal is to inspire, nurture and empower the next generation of storytellers, who present our stories to global audiences, and serve as a window into the creative aspirations of Qatar’s emerging filmmaking talents."

A J al-Thani, whose earlier film Kashta (2016) won the the Best Narrative Award at the 2016 Ajyal Youth Film Festival and was recently showcased in the Market screening of ‘Made in Qatar’ films at Cannes and at the Sarajevo Film Festival, returns with the tale of seven Bedouin women fighting to escape to freedom in Khuzama. It focuses on a woman who lives with her father in the desert and in complete isolation.

Kholoud al-Ali’s Fragile is set in a valley where people are made of ceramic.Since they are breakable they must move very carefully. Among them is a ceramic girl who has always wondered about what lay beyond the mountains.

The Untitled Arab Museum Documentary by Majid al-Remaihi explores the history of a museum of Arab modern art through its archives, artworks and spaces.While claiming its potential as a documentary, it also produces art objects and histories.

I Am My Own Guardian by Mahdi Ali Ali narrates the story of Sara, a professional photographer, who is surprised to see a young girl from a conservative family being rebellious. To get proof of the girl’s disobedience, she follows the family who are taking pictures in Katara Cultural Village.

End of the Road is a comedy drama by Ahmad al-Sharif set in 1997. Munir, a kind-hearted and trusting taxi driver, is caught in a dilemma: Whether to make it home in time for his daughter’s birthday or help an old man on the side of the road to his home.

Mohamed al-Mahmeed’s Nasser Goes to Space is a about a highly imaginative 7-year-old boy coping with his parents’ divorce by escaping to a magical place he has created in his imagination with his two toys – Thunder and Lightning.

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