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Doha Film Festival Debuts Nov. 20 With Palestinian Focus and Industry Push

The event expands the Doha Film Institute’s Ajyal festival into a wider international platform for premieres that foreground regional voices.

Overview

  • Opening night features Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab as the programme emphasizes stories from Gaza, Palestine and Sudan.
  • The lineup spans 97 films from 62 countries across four competitions, including a Made in Qatar section and a youth jury strand, with a robust shorts slate drawn from more than 1,600 submissions.
  • World premieres include Qatari thriller Sa3oud Wainah?, Yasser Ashour’s My Story, Belal Khaled’s When the Camera Froze and Bisan Owda’s Abu Jabal.
  • High-profile guests include Steven Soderbergh and Michaela Coel for The Christophers and attendees such as Rami Malek, with special screenings that include Re-Creation and Shoot the People.
  • Industry Days presented by the Qatar Film Committee at Media City Qatar anchor the professional track, the festival intentionally overlaps with Geekdom, and awards total more than $300,000.