Doha Film Institute (DFI) is celebrating local filmmaking talent with a spotlight on the art of documentary at this year’s ‘Focus on Qatar,’ to be held from October 5 to 7 at the Museum of Islamic Art.
A special showcase that highlights the vision and talent of Qatari filmmakers, ‘Focus on Qatar’ puts the spotlight on homegrown talents who have contributed to the growth of film culture in Qatar.
‘Focus on Qatar’ 2016 will flag off at 7.30pm on October 5, with the screening of a collection of noteworthy short documentaries that Qatar has produced in the past years, either through the institute’s training programmes, by independent directors or by students of Northwestern University in Qatar.
Audiences will have the opportunity to interact with filmmakers after the screenings.
Fatma al-Remaihi, CEO of DFI, said: “‘Focus on Qatar 2016’ highlights the remarkable strides our filmmakers have made in this medium of cinematic expression, which has gained significant popularity among Qatari filmmakers to address relevant and important issues and act as a catalyst for change.”  
The documentaries to be screened include Bader (Qatar, US, Syria/2012) directed by Sara al-Saadi, Maaria Assami and Latifa al-Darwish; Al 7amal (Qatar/2015) by Amal al-Muftah; The Palm Tree (Qatar/2015) by Jassim al-Rumaihi, which won the ‘Made in Qatar’ award for best documentary at Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2015; Inside Out (Qatar/2015) by Fahad al-Obaidly and Salwa al-Khalifa; To My Mother (Qatar/2015) by Amina Ahmed al-Bloshi; The Notebook (Qatar/2015) by Amna al-Binali; and Mubarak al-Malik (Qatar/2016) by Aisha R al-Muhannadi.
Celebrating the contribution of the team at Al Jazeera Documentary Channel in driving the documentary landscape in the region, ‘Focus on Qatar’ will have a special “Al Jazeera Documentary Network Showcase” at 7.30pm on October 6. It will present a special screening of the channel’s feature documentary, Cities of Anxiety, by Mohamed Hashem.  
The final day of ‘Focus on Qatar’ — October 7 — will be dedicated to the industry with two panel discussions and an informal reception for production companies.
The first panel on ‘The State of Documentary in the Gulf’ at 4pm will discuss funding opportunities, theatrical release, film festivals, television, online portals and other new broadcast platforms to help independent Gulf filmmakers.
The discussion will also explore if the current state of documentary filmmaking is evolving or not within the Gulf region, and includes panelists Mohamed Soueid from MBC, Jamel Dallai from Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, filmmaker Hafiz Ali Ali and DFI CEO al-Remaihi.
The second discussion at 7.30pm on the ‘Next Generation of Documentary Filmmakers’ is an open forum for local talent to discuss their experiences throughout the filmmaking process, including writing, directing and editing their films.
 It will highlight the various opportunities available to filmmakers in Qatar, including DFI workshops, grants and the Qatar Film Fund, which promotes local filmmaking in Qatar.
The Production company reception highlights the support extended by local production houses.
All events and screenings are free for the public.