TWELVE-MONTH HIGHLIGHT(S):
DFI has announced the beneficiaries of its Spring 2022 Grants Programme, backing 44
projects from 33 countries as part of its latest funding cycle. DFI also held the ninth edition of its annual talent incubator Qumra
which included 44 projects from 23 countries and comprised 14 feature narratives, 12 feature documentaries, seven series and
11 shorts. Qumra 2023 provided networking and development opportunities for the projects and the individual filmmakers and
included one-to-one mentoring sessions with filmmakers Christopher Hampton, David Parfitt, Jacqueline West, Lynne Ramsay
and Michael Winterbottom.
FATMA AL REMAIHI
CEO of DOHA FILM INSTITUTE
QATARI
KHALIL BENKIRANE
HEAD OF GRANT UNIT
MOROCCAN
CAREER HIGHLIGHT(S):
Graduating in Film studies at the San Francisco State University in 1995,
Benkirane was appointed Artistic Director and then Executive Director of The Arab Film Festival,
Cinemayaat, in San Francisco (1998 to 2002). He moved to Morocco where he directed and produced his
first feature documentary, THE WHITE THREAD. Khalil is a founding member of The Cinemathèque de
Tanger (CdT) and a board member of Young Arab Theater Fund (YATF). In early 2011 he joined the Doha
Film Institute where he spearheads the Grants Programme.
