The Doha Film Institute (DFI) continues to build on its ongoing support for emerging and independent voices in cinema with 44 film projects by filmmakers from across the world chosen for its 2022 Spring Grants cycle.
This was announced at Cannes Film Festival 2022, where four of the Spring Grants recipients are showcasing their projects including two in the Un Certain Regard category.
The DFI Grants programme, awarded in two cycles – Spring and Fall, is the region’s longest-serving film support initiative that identifies and nurtures first-and second-time filmmakers globally. To date, more than 650 film projects from 74 countries have benefited from the Grants programme.
The Spring 2022 Grants recipients include projects from over 33 countries ranging from Chile to China, Poland to Ukraine, Egypt to Greenland, and Switzerland to Sudan.
The selection includes 11 films by Qatari talents. For the first time, the Grant is being awarded to a film project from Comoros. Nine filmmakers are returnees, having earlier been supported by the institute with grants or were nurtured at Qumra, the annual talent incubator event, for their current or earlier productions.
In addition to Qatar, the countries represented in this cycle include Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, Chile, China, Comoros, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Greenland, India, Iran, Japan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Morocco, Norway, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, The Netherlands, Tunisia, UK, Ukraine, US, and Yemen.
Films from this cycle selected to screen at Cannes include All The People I’ll Never Be (France, Germany, Belgium, South Korea, Romania, Qatar) by Davy Chou; Harka (Egypt, France, Tunisia, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Qatar) by Lotfy Nathan; and Plan 75 (Japan, France, Philippines, Qatar) by Chie Hayakawa, screening in the Un Certain Regard section, and Cotton Queen (Sudan, Palestine, Germany, France, Qatar) by Suzannah Mirghani, selected for Cannes’ Cinéfondation Atelier.
In a press statement, DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said: “We are honoured to extend our support to first- and second-time filmmakers with the Spring 2022 Grants cycle that reiterates our commitment to promoting independent and important voices in cinema.

The 2022 Spring Grants recipients are:

Mena – Feature Narrative – Development: Feet (Qatar) by Mahdi Ali Ali, The Other Wife [working title] (Qatar, France) by Meriem Mesraoua, My Father’s Scent (Egypt, Norway, Qatar) by Mohamed Siam, Yunan (Palestine, Germany, Syria, France, Italy, Qatar) by Ameer Fakher Eldin.
Mena – Feature Narrative – Production: Cotton Queen (Sudan, Palestine, Germany, France, Qatar) by Suzannah Mirghani, Grey Glow (Lebanon, France, Qatar) by Michèle Tyan, Layla in Dreamland (UK, Qatar) by Celine Cotran, The 67th Summer (France, Egypt, Germany, Qatar) by Abu Bakr Shawky, The Last Days of R.M. (Algeria, France, Qatar) by Amin Sidi-Boumédiène.
Mena – Feature Narrative – Post-Production: Harka (Egypt, France, Tunisia, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Qatar) by Lotfy Nathan.
Non-Mena – Feature Narrative – Post-Production: 1976 (Chile, Argentina, Qatar) by Manuela Martelli, All The People I’ll Never Be (France, Germany, Belgium, South Korea, Romania, Qatar) by Davy Chou, Plan 75 (Japan, France, Philippines, Qatar) by Chie Hayakawa, Rapture (India, China, Switzerland, Netherlands) by Dominic Megam Sangma.
Mena – Feature Documentary – Development: Grain of Sand (Morocco, France, Qatar) by Nadja Anane, Mother Street (Morocco, France) by Benhachem El Mouêtassim Billah.
Mena – Feature Documentary –Production: Let's Play Soldiers (Yemen, Qatar) by Mariam al-Dhubhani, Son of the Streets (Palestine, Poland, Lebanon, Ukraine, Qatar) by Mohamed Almughanni.
Mena - Feature Documentary – Post-Production: Behind Closed Doors (Morocco, Qatar) by Yakout Elhababi, Qatar Stars (US, Qatar) by Danielle Beverly, Jump the Wall (Morocco, Qatar) by Mohamed Zineddaine.
Non-Mena – Feature Documentary – Post-Production: After the Bridge (Italy, France, Qatar) by Marzia Toscano, Between Revolutions (Romania, Iran, Croatia, Qatar) by Vlad Petri, Polaris (France, Greenland, Qatar) by Ainara Vera, about Hayat.
Mena – Shorts Narratives – Development: Autumn (Qatar, Iran) by Aisha al-Jaidah, Harakat! (Qatar) by Nadia al-Khater, Lost in a Desert (Qatar) by Mohamed al-Heidous, Odd Town! (Qatar) by Mohamed Abdulaziz Fakhroo, What Brings You Here (Qatar) by Abdulla Ahmad Alemadi.
Mena – Shorts Narratives – Production: Habibi and I in Eden (Saudi Arabia, Qatar) by Sara Mesfer, Chikha (Morocco, Qatar) by Zahoua Raji and Ayoub Layoussifi, How the Sea Became Salty (Egypt, Germany, Qatar) by Maysoon El-Massry, Seven Mountains and Seven Seas (France, Lebanon, Qatar) by Noel Keserwany and Gaia Alari, The Last Tears of Eissa (Egypt, France, Qatar) by Morad Mostafa, The Unique Girl (Morocco, France, Egypt, Qatar) by Zakaria Nouri, Sanad (Qatar) by Noor al-Nasr about Jassim, Zanatany – When Soulless Shrouds Whispers (Comoros, Belgium, France, Qatar) by Hachimiya Ahamada.
Mena – Shorts Documentary – Production: The Last Days with Eliane (Tunisia, Qatar) by Mehdi Hajri. Mena - Shorts Narratives – Post-Production: A Simple Cut (Qatar) by Maha al-Jefairi, Kinship (Qatar) by Ali al-Hajri, Mary (Qatar) by Abdulaziz Khashabi and Abdulla al-Janahi.
Mena - TV Series- Development: Status Quo (Lebanon, Qatar) by Gilbert Karam, Yassmine/Jasmine (Morocco, US, Qatar) by Yossera Bouchtia.
Mena - Web Series- Production: Art and Movement (Sudan, Qatar) by Marwa Mohamed Ahmed.