11/04/2025 - We present details of six intriguing projects introduced at this year’s Qumra, which unspooled in Doha from 3-9 April

The 2025 edition of Qatar’s Qumra ran this year from 3-9 April. Organised by the Doha Film Institute (DFI), Qumra is an industry event dedicated to providing mentorship, nurturing talent and fostering hands-on development for filmmakers from Qatar, the MENA region and beyond. We take a closer look at six projects presented at this year’s gathering.

Cotton Queen - Suzannah Mirghani (Sudan/Germany/France/Palestine/Egypt/Qatar)
Teenager Nafisa was raised on her grandmother’s stories of battling British colonisers. Inspired by the titular Sudanese fairy tale, the girl sets out to save the cotton fields from a modern threat. This is the premise of the Sudanese-Russian helmer’s debut feature, backed by the CNC, FFA, FFF Bayern, the Hubert Bals Fund and ZDF/Arte, among others.

“The DFI has been a home for Cotton Queen from conception to completion. I developed the script during a DFI workshop, which was mentored by Annemarie Jacir, who came on board as a co-producer and connected me with Caroline Daube, the German delegate producer. When the project was still in development, I pitched it here, and I first met Didar Domehri, the French co-producer. I’m proud to be in the final stages of my film now,” Mirghani tells Cineuropa. The documentary is seeking festival premieres and sales.

Palmyra – Carol Mezher, Gabriela Flores (Lebanon/France/Qatar)
This new series, now in development and penned by the two directors, sees three women joining forces to save endangered antiquities from Palmyra, only to be caught in the heart of a high-stakes international art conspiracy.

“Being at Qumra was pivotal for us. It marked the end of seven intense months in the DFI’s Series Lab, which played a key role in taking Palmyra to the next level. The project has sparked strong interest and is gaining momentum, and it’s now firmly on the radar of key industry players. We’re actively seeking a regional commissioner and co-production partners to help bring the show into its next phase,” the team tells Cineuropa. Karim Safieddine and Laurent Fumeron are producing. Mezher defines the show, based on true events, as “an intricate tale of loyalty, legacy and perseverance, blending personal history with global heritage”.

Fatna, A Woman Named Rachid - Hélène Harder (France/Morocco/Belgium)
After surviving arbitrary detention and torture in 1970s Morocco, activist Fatna El Bouih relentlessly pursues her dream for change today. This documentary feature is a sensitive journey through past and present, revealing why Fatna’s torturers gave her the male name Rachid and what it has taken to be a woman activist from then till now.

Confirmed financial partners include 2M TV, the CNC, Eurimages, the DFI, the Belgian Tax Shelter, Procirep-Angoa and the Centre du cinéma de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, among others. Wendigo Films (France), Abel Aflam (Morocco) and White Boat Pictures (Belgium) are producing.

“The support provided by Qumra has been crucial for us; we received their post-production backing, and we were able to connect with a large group of people from the industry. […] I feel very lucky about sharing the story with people from Morocco first – Fatna is well known there, but not outside of Morocco. We can learn from her experience and the changes she’s witnessed,” explains Harder.

Sleepless City – Guillermo Ganoe (Spain/France)
Ganoe’s first feature is set in La Cañada Real, on the outskirts of Madrid. It follows Toni, a 15-year-old Roma boy who has always lived there with his family and his best friend, a Moroccan boy called Billal. However, everything falls apart when he discovers that his best friend is leaving for good. Ganoe defined his experience at Qumra as “extremely comfortable. […] We got enough time to meet people in a good mood, which isn’t the usual thing during film events,” he told the press in attendance. “What the film portrays is that, even once immigrants manage to cross the border, their journey is far from over – immigration is a long and extremely painful process. The parents of the characters, even after a decade, still need to continue their journey by moving to France. Europe must be fully aware of this and understand that the concept of land ownership is not solely defined by political borders.”

The team, led by producer Alex Lafuente, is seeking broadcasters and financiers. Backers include Eurimages, ARTE Cofinova, RTVE, Filmin and the CNC, among others.

Roqia – Yanis Koussim (Algeria/France/Qatar/Saudi Arabia)
The helmer began working on the script for this film, billed as “a project of resilience” and “a fresh start”, after his latest effort, Algiers by Night [+see also:
trailer
film profile], was withdrawn from IFFR in 2018. The story, set in the early 1990s, follows Ahmed, who is rendered amnesiac by a car crash and fears his returning memory. Meanwhile, the disciple of an old Raqi (a Muslim exorcist) is worried that his master’s Alzheimer’s may unleash a long-contained evil.

“I was a teenager and grew up in a Muslim family — the elders were practising Islam. When terrorism came to Algeria, it was a shock for me,” Koussim explained during a press conference. “How could these kind, gentle people share the same holy book as the terrorists? This question stayed with me for years. When I decided to talk about this period, I took that question and tried to build the script around it. This film is, in a way, a small attempt to answer that question.” The production team of this drama is led by Fares Ladjimi, of Supernova Films.

Mother of Silence (working title) – Zahraa Ghandour (Iraq/France/Qatar)
In this documentary, Ghandour, born and raised in a Baghdad midwife house, witnesses the rejection of newborn girls. She probes Iraq’s war and tribal laws, unravelling why families abandon their daughters.

“France's Lila Production is co-producing the film through Barbara Conforti and myself,” said producer at Lila Production Marc Berdugo. Zahraa Ghandour is also producing, for Iraq-based Karada Films. "We’re currently in the post-production phase, and we’re aiming for a theatrical release in France. We had a great experience at Qumra, where we spoke with festival programmers, international sales agents and a theatrical distribution company based in France. The film is almost picture-locked.”