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Doha, Qatar; February 29, 2016: Qumra, the annual industry event by the Doha Film Institute designed to nurture the development of emerging filmmakers, will welcome more than 100 industry professionals, including international film festival directors, producers, fund managers, script consultants, distributors and other experts during its second edition to be held from March 4 to 9, 2016.

A number of industry leaders who attended the inaugural edition last year have confirmed their participation for the second time alongside many new organisations represented for the first time at the annual gathering dedicated to supporting first- and second-time filmmakers on both a creative and practical level. The delegates come from as far afield as Argentina to Australia, and India to The Netherlands and Egypt to the US.

Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief Executive Officer of the Doha Film Institute, said: “Qumra presents a very important component in nurturing a film industry in Qatar and the Arab world and the participation of international industry experts is integral to this initiative. I would like to thank each of these seasoned professionals for lending their expertise to benefit the participating projects and for being part of the unique creative network that we have cultivated through Qumra.”

She added: “We have seen many productive and tangible outcomes for the projects that were developed in the first edition of Qumra and I am confident that the connections made between emerging filmmakers and industry mentors in the coming week will contribute to the growth of a more robust regional film industry and benefit the participants far into the future.”

The Qumra industry programme is centered around 33 projects from Qatar, the Arab region and the rest of the world at various stages of development. The industry sessions are presented in two strands: tutorials, workshops, consultations and one-on-one meetings for projects still in development; and a series of work-in-progress and ‘picture lock’ screenings and feedback sessions for projects in post production.

Among the leading industry names to attend the event this year are: David Parfitt, Academy Award-winning producer, Chairman of Film London and ex-Chairman of BAFTA; Christophe Leparc, Managing Director, Programmer at Director’s Fortnight Cannes Film Festival and recently appointed Festival Director of Cinemed; Cameron Bailey, Festival Director, Toronto International Film Festival; Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director of Festival Del film Locarno; Vincenzo Bugno, Project Manager of Berlinale World Cinema Fund & Member of the Berlinale Competition Selection Committee; Matthijs Wouter Knol, Director of the European Film Market at the Berlin International Film Festival; Remi Burah, Senior Executive Vice President, ARTE France Cinéma; Cara Mertes, Director of the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms; Mike Goodridge, CEO of Protagonist Pictures; Alexandre Mallet-Guy, President of Memento Films; Michael J. Werner, Managing Director & Chairman of Fortissimo Films; and first-time representatives from Netflix, AMC / Sundance Channel Global and the Sundance Institute.

Strong representation from programmers and directors of the world’s leading film festivals and institutes includes: CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival; Morelia Film Festival in Mexico & San Sebastian Film Festival, Spain; International Film Festival of Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Busan International Film Festival, South Korea; Latin Arab International Film Festival in Argentina; Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia; Tribeca Film Institute, USA; International Istanbul Film Festival; Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival; Berlinale Shorts at International Film Festival of Berlin; Sarajevo Film Festival; and the Dubai International Film Festival.

High profile regional and international sales agents and distributors include representatives from Wild Bunch of France; Film Movement of USA; Memento Films, France; Tricon Films, Canada; Urban Distribution International of France; The Match Factory of Germany; Gulf Films of Qatar; MAD Solutions, Egypt ; Front Row Filmed Entertainment, UAE; Moving Turtle, Lebanon and MC Distribution, Lebanon.

International film funds and commissions represented at Qumra 2016 include: IDFA Bertha Fund of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam; the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival of Rotterdam; Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg; the Robert Bosch Stiftung, Berlin; The Royal Film Commission, Jordan; the Arab Fund for Arts & Culture; Screen Institute Beirut; the Netherlands Film Fund and Gulf funds SANAD Film Fund and ENJAZZ, UAE as well as regional financiers Image Nation and MBC Group.

Qatar-based organisations are represented by Innovation Films and the Al Jazeera Media Training & Development Centre in Qatar along with 120 Qatar-based film, media and entertainment delegates who will also participate in the programme, further building on the event’s aim to connect local, regional and international industry for the benefit of emerging talent.

Qumra has three main elements: Masterclasses by the Qumra Masters, which will be led this year by James Schamus (US), Joshua Oppenheimer (US), Naomi Kawase (Japan), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey) and Aleksandr Sokurov (Russia); industry meetings and screenings. All projects selected by the Doha Film Institute will benefit from the industry meetings with the experts to take their work to the next stage.

The screenings are in two categories: Master Screenings & New Voices in Cinema. The Masters Screenings this year include The Look of Silence (Denmark, Indonesia, Finland, Norway, UK / Indonesian, Javanese /2014) by Joshua Oppenheimer, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina / Turkish / 2011) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Russian Ark (Russian Federation, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan / Russian / 2002) by Aleksandr Sokurov; The Mourning Forest (Japan, France / Japanese / 2007) by Naomi Kawase; and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) Taiwan, Hong Kong, USA, China / Mandarin / 2001) by Ang Lee.

In the New Voices in Cinema segment, are: The Palm Tree (Qatar, No Dialogue, 2015) by Jasim Al Rumaihi; Mediterranea (Italy, France, Germany, Qatar/ Arabic, English, French, Italian; 2015) by Jonas Carpignano; Roundabout in my Head (Algeria, France, Qatar/Arabic/2015), and Waves 98 by Ely Dagher (Lebanon, Qatar / Arabic / 2015).

All screenings will take place at the Museum of Islamic Art Auditorium and tickets are now on sale at www.dohafilminstitute.com