The latest cohort also features 10 projects by Qatari and Qatar-based filmmakers, including documentary 'When The News Breaks You', as well as the short films 'A World of Donkeys' and 'The Bombardment'.
Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced the recipients of its 2025 Fall Grants Cycle, marking a major milestone in the organisation’s global mission to support independent cinema as the programme surpasses 1,000 funded projects worldwide since its launch.
The latest grants cycle supports 57 projects from 46 countries, including 10 projects by Qatari and Qatar-based filmmakers, underscoring DFI’s dual focus on nurturing local talent while sustaining one of the most diverse international film development ecosystems in the world. Awarded twice a year in Spring and Fall, the DFI Grants Programme is among the longest-running initiatives of its kind in the region, backing first- and second-time filmmakers globally as well as established MENA directors in post-production across narrative features and shorts, documentaries, experimental and essay films, and television and web series.
The 2025 Fall cycle is one of the programme’s most internationally representative to date, featuring projects from 14 MENA countries alongside works from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Chief Executive Officer of DFI, said: “DFI Grants Programme was created to rebalance the world cinema landscape, so that stories shaped by lived experience, truth, and artistic courage are not the exception, but the foundation. Supporting more than 1,000 projects to date reflects a long-term commitment to important voices, particularly from regions and communities that continue to face barriers to equitable representation.
“The filmmakers selected in the 2025 Fall Grants cycle exemplify the power of independent cinema to question, connect, and reveal deeper truths. We have helped filmmakers claim space, challenge dominant narratives, and ensure that cinema remains a vital force for empathy, dialogue, and shared understanding.
“By providing meaningful support and international pathways, we are helping ensure that the future of film is shaped by diversity, authenticity and a plurality of perspectives.”
The newly selected projects span all stages of production. In feature narrative development, supported films include The Man Who’s Gone by Naji Ismail, an Egypt–Qatar co-production following a man who leaves Cairo for Upper Egypt after receiving a mysterious message from his dying mother, and The Guardian by Muhannad Lamin, a Libya–Algeria–Canada–Qatar collaboration set in the Libyan desert.
Feature narrative projects in production include Occupational Hazards by Bassel Ghandour, a dark comedy about a multi-generational Palestinian family; Wolfmother by Ismael El Iraki, centered on a smuggler raising her children alone in Tangier; and Amnesia by Dima Hamdan, which follows a man searching for his identity after appearing in Jericho with no memory. Other supported titles explore themes ranging from economic collapse, family conflict, environmental devastation and personal loss to science fiction and coming-of-age stories across the region.
In feature narrative post-production, DFI is backing projects such as Algerican Road by Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche, Chronicles from the Siege by Abdallah Al Khatib, Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep by Rakan Mayasi, and Pipes by Karim Kassem, each offering distinct perspectives on displacement, memory, and survival.
The documentary slate includes projects in development such as Remind Me to Forget by Lama Jamjoom, set in a communal home for divorced and widowed women in Saudi Arabia, and Everything She Didn’t Say by Farah Abada, a personal essay film confronting childhood trauma. Documentary productions and post-production selections further examine themes of war, exile, journalism, identity and resilience, with stories set in Gaza, Sudan, Iraq, Morocco and beyond.
DFI has also selected experimental and essay works, television series in development, and a wide range of short narrative and documentary projects at various stages, many by emerging filmmakers. These works span animation, speculative futures, intimate personal stories and depictions of everyday life shaped by conflict and social change.
Beyond the MENA region, the 2025 Fall Grants Cycle includes feature narratives and documentaries from South America, Africa, East Asia, Europe and North America, reinforcing the programme’s global reach. Together, the selected projects reflect DFI’s continued commitment to diversity, artistic freedom, and ensuring that the future of cinema is shaped by a plurality of voices and perspectives.
