DOHA: Acclaimed filmmakers Naomi Kawase and Lucrecia Martel are the first to be confirmed as Masters for Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) second edition of Qumra scheduled from March 4 to 9.
They will mentor first and second-time filmmakers at the new initiative aimed to support the development of emerging filmmakers from Qatar and around the world.
As Qumra Masters, each of the seasoned filmmakers will participate in master classes, workshops and one-on-one sessions with participating Qumra projects and industry professionals, with the filmmakers’ acclaimed works to be screened for Doha audiences during the event.
Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO, DFI, said: “The inaugural edition of Qumra had a meaningful impact not only on participants, but also on the industry. The summit garnered productive results and benefitted all and the contribution of our Masters was a key part of the success of our new initiative.
“Naomi and Lucrecia are each masters of their craft, who have established their unique voices in world cinema and we are looking forward to welcoming them to Qumra,” added Al Remaihi.
Filmmaker and DFI Artistic Adviser Elia Suleiman said: “Having Lucrecia and Naomi give master classes at Qumra is compelling because they possess what it takes to be Masters of cinema – a unique sensibility and cinematic prowess - yet they are young enough to connect and be in the proximity of the cinematic experience of the young generation of filmmakers who will participate in Qumra.”
Japanese Kawase gained international acclaim in 1997 when she became the youngest winner of Camera d’Or at Festival de Cannes with her first feature film Suzaku. In 2007, her film The Mourning Forest won the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix. Her 2014 film Still the Water was selected to compete for Palme d’Or and her most recent film An, which has its Middle East premiere at this week’s Ajyal Youth Film Festival, was screened in the Un Certain Regard Section in 2015.
Argentinean Martel has been described by critics as one of the members of the so-called ‘New Argentine Cinema’.
Beginning her career directing shorts, her debut feature La Ciénaga received international awards and was voted the greatest Latin American film of the decade in a poll of New York film critics, programmers and industry professionals.
Follow up films La Niña Santa/The Holy Girl and The Headless Woman were both selected for competition at Cannes Film Festival in 2004 and 2008, respectively.
Previous Qumra Masters include Mexican actor, director and producer Gael Garcia Bernal; Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako; Romanian auteur and Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu; and Bosnian writer/director Danis Tanovic.
The Peninsula
