Oscar-winning actor Tilda Swinton, known for her roles in both arthouse films and large-scale Hollywood productions, has been included in the 2018 line-up of acclaimed international Qumra Masters, the Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced.
Qumra masters will mentor emerging filmmakers from around the world at the fourth edition of the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra, scheduled to be held from March 9 to 14.
Swinton joins Sandy Powell, Order of the British Empire (OBE), Oscar-winning British costume designer (The Young Victoria, The Aviator, Shakespeare in Love); Oscar-nominated director Bennett Miller (Capote, Moneyball, Foxcatcher); Venice Golden Lion-winning Russian director and writer Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless); Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Thai filmmaker and visual artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives); and the only documentary director to win the Berlinale Golden Bear, Italian director Gianfranco Rosi (Fire at Sea) as Qumra Masters for the 2018 edition of the unique industry forum that focuses on first- and second-time filmmakers.
Through mentoring sessions, one-on-one meetings and masterclasses, Qumra Masters nurture the talent associated with 34 selected Qumra projects from 25 countries that are in development and post-production stages. “We are thrilled to welcome an artist of Tilda Swinton’s calibre as a Qumra Master. A true master in her craft, the diversity and range of her work is inspirational to both audiences and filmmakers alike,” DFI CEO Fatma al-Remaihi said.
“She has constantly redefined the limits of her talent and her wealth of experience brings a rich layer of expertise to our programme. The participation of our Masters is integral to Qumra which is founded upon a commitment to the mentorship and creative development of emerging filmmakers,” she added.
DFI artistic adviser and filmmaker Elia Suleiman said: “Swinton’s transformational ability and fierce talent takes every role to unprecedented levels of inspiring perfection and originality.”
“Constantly challenging conventional visual and emotional preconceptions, the depth and breadth of her performances can only be described as profoundly boundary breaking,” Suleiman added. Swinton started making films with English experimental director Derek Jarman in 1985, with Caravaggio.
They made seven more films together, including The Last of England, The Garden, War Requiem, Edward II (for which she won the Best Actress award at the 1991 Venice International Film Festival), and Wittgenstein, before Jarman’s death in 1994. She gained wide international acclaim in 1992 for her portrayal of Orlando, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf.