Doha, Qatar: The Doha Film Institute (DFI) is now accepting application for its spring 2024 cycle of Film Funding Programme, which aims to identify new talent, seek out new cinematic voices and discover universally resonant stories.
The applications are open until January 4, 2024, DFI announced on its website.
“The Institute’s approach is to champion projects that aim to explore, expand and cultivate authentic storytelling, with a keen interest in propelling forward the medium of cinema,” DFI said on its website. Every year, there are two grants submission cycles. The Spring cycle opens in January, and the following Fall cycle takes place in July. The Film Funding Programme offers both creative and financial support to short and feature-length films. This assistance is available to Qatari and international directors who are venturing into filmmaking for the first or second time, as well as established directors from the MENA region. Eligibility criteria apply. Additionally, financial support is extended to TV and web series led by scriptwriters and directors from the MENA region, subject to meeting the specified criteria.
The grant for TV fiction and creative documentary series development is designed to aid independent screenwriters and producers in the MENA region.
Its goal is to assist in the creation of original serialized content intended for international audiovisual markets. Similarly, the grant for web fiction and creative documentary series aims to provide financial backing to independent directors and producers from the MENA region for the production of original serialized content intended for the web. DFI continues to build on its ongoing support for emerging and independent voices in cinema and the Film Funding Programme is considered the Middle East region’s longest-serving film development initiative that has supported over 750 diverse projects from 75 countries.
In the 2023 Spring Grants cycle DFI selected a total of 29 films from 18 countries.
In addition to Qatar, recipients of the 2023 Spring Grants included film projects from Algeria, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Lebanon, Mongolia, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sudan and Tunisia. Recipients included 12 women filmmakers and 10 returning grantees along with four projects from Qatar-based talent, underlining DFI’s commitment to supporting important voices and the continued evolution of independent cinema from the region and beyond.
Over the years, diverse projects supported by DFI through its grants programme have been screened to global audiences in key sections at prestigious festivals.
