The Doha Film Institute has chosen 29 film projects from 16 countries for its Spring Grants 2017, which supports first- and second-time filmmakers, as well as established Arab directors for short and feature-length films.

In addition to two films from Qatari filmmakers, the grantees include 24 projects from the Mena region. With the 2017 Spring Grants cycle, the total number of projects supported by Doha Film Institute’s Grants programme now stands at over 340.

The line-up includes 14 feature-length narrative films, eight feature documentaries, two feature experimental or essay films and 5 short films – that will receive funding for development, production or post-production. The Spring 2017 cycle marks the 14th session of the DFI grants programme, dedicated to supporting new cinematic voices from the Mena region and around the world.

Announcing the projects at Cannes Film Festival, Fatma Al Remaihi, chief executive officer of the Doha Film Institute, said: “Our grantees represent the core of the Doha Film Institute’s mandate to support emerging filmmakers and contribute to the development of the regional and international film industry.  The new grantees cover a broad range of subjects and represent some powerful new voices in cinema from the Arab region and beyond, highlighting the remarkable leaps in creativity by our emerging filmmakers, and their innovative and bold approach to story-telling.”

She added: “Stories of hope, self-discovery, women empowerment, tales of family life and of life in conflict zones are highlighted in the selections this Spring. This year’s Grants projects are even more special for the large representation of women directors as well as themes that focus on coming-of-age stories of central female characters. We are honoured to be a part of the creative journey of talented filmmakers from across the world, and in enabling them to accomplish their dream projects.”

There are four projects each from Algeria and Egypt, three from Tunisia and two each from Lebanon, Iran, Morocco, and Palestine. One project each comes from Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Portugal, Somalia, Syria, France and Indonesia.

Of the 29 projects, 19 are helmed by women directors, including Nothingwood (France, Germany, Qatar) by Sonia Kronlund that has been selected for screening in the 2017 Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.

Submissions for the next funding round open July 18 and close July 31. Funding is available to projects by first and second-time filmmakers from around the world, with an emphasis on support for filmmakers from the Mena region.

Certain categories of funding are reserved for Mena and Qatari filmmakers. Post-production funding is available to established filmmakers from the Mena region. – TradeArabia News Service