Overview

• Recent reports document that state‑backed Qatari cultural bodies linked to Sheikha Al‑Mayassa financed Mira Nair’s projects for more than a decade, including fully funding the $15 million budget of her 2012 film The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
• Nair’s ties include her film opening the 2009 Doha Tribeca festival, a 2010–2014 Doha Film Institute partnership with her Maisha Film Labs, a 2019 Qatar National Museum commission for Nafas, and a 2022 Monsoon Wedding stage production by Qatar Airways and Qatar Creates.
• Since mid‑June, Sheikha Al‑Mayassa has promoted Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral bid on social media by sharing favorable polling and reacting to campaign‑related videos.
• Mamdani says he has never traveled to Qatar or received direct support from its institutions, and his campaign declined to say whether any assistance flowed via his mother or whether he has engaged with the sheikha.
• Foreign‑policy analysts describe Qatar’s cultural spending as soft power, and critics highlight tensions between the country’s rights record and the progressive causes championed by Nair and Mamdani, while noting there is no public evidence tying the candidate directly to Qatari funds.