As Ajyal 2014 passes the halfway mark, it’s time for our first session of homegrown films in the Made in Qatar series.

Let’s have a look at the various titles made in our home country, which appear throughout the festival selection and have been winning over audiences and critics, and receiving awards, all over the world!

Made In Qatar (PG-13) – This year’s programme showcases short films by some of the most talented filmmakers in Qatar. Programme 1 includes several shorts about Qatar’s tradition of care that have been made as part of a collaboration between the Doha Film Institute and Seha, the National Health Insurance Scheme for the State of Qatar. Along with them, there are moving documentaries, comedy and drama – and a zombie movie set in post-apocalyptic Doha! Programme 2 includes lyrical and atmospheric pieces, surreal dramas, real stories, and a collection of titles from our recent Tarsheed Short Filmmaking Competition, an Institute collaboration with Kahramaa organised to mark Earth Day 2014 by making films to raise awareness about the importance of conserving some of our most precious resources – water and electricity.

4 December: Made in Qatar Programme 1 – Please reserve your free ticket in advance for admission.
5 December: Made in Qatar Programme 2 – Please reserve your free ticket in advance for admission.

Speed Sisters (PG-15) – Funded by the Doha Film Institute, this adrenaline-packed documentary look at the first all-woman rally-racing team in the Middle East will get you on the edge of your seat, rooting for these fierce five women who are taking the auto-racing world of Palestine by storm! If you missed the Opening Night presentation of the film, you have another chance to see this tale of girl power and gasoline on 4 December.

Theeb (PG-13) – While the Second World War rages far away and the Arab Revolt threatens Ottoman rule in the Arab world, a young Bedouin boy finds himself on a perilous adventure in the desert after he follows his brother and a mysterious British officer into the wild. This multi-award-winning tale, which received financial support through the Doha Film Institute Grants Programme, is an affecting coming-of-age story inflected by classic Western tropes, all set against the stunning vastness of Wadi Rum. You’ll be glued to the big screen. Final screening on 6 December.

Inside Out: The People’s Art Project (PG-13) – Can art change the world? This inspirational documentary proves that it can least turn it ‘inside out’. You’ll marvel at this global call of action which has inspired communities from Haiti to Tunisia, Mexico to Palestine to raise their voices on important causes by pasting giant black-and-white portraits on buildings, bridges and rooftops. Funded by the Doha Film Institute, ‘Inside Out’ has its second and final Ajyasl screening today, 4 December.

Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (PG) – Aided by nine acclaimed animation artists from all over the world, and a magnificent score by Academy Award winner Gabriel Yared, Academy Award-nominated writer-director Roger Allers (Disney’s ‘The Lion King’), has turned one of the bestselling books of the 20th century into a beautiful and charming animated fairytale, certain to bring Gibran’s beloved poetry to a new generation of admirers. Co-financed by the Doha Film Institute, the film is produced by Selma Hayek-Pinault (who also voiced one of the main characters, along with Liam Neeson), and closes Ajyal on 6 December.