Arab Film Festival in Rotterdam to Screen Five DFI-Funded Films

A new year, a new collection! Five films produced by the Doha Film Institute wowed the judges and were chosen to participate in the much-anticipated Arab Film Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The films, all of which were Qatar-made, include ‘And Then They Burn the Sea’ by Majid Al Remaihi, Al Sit or Cotton Queen by Suzzanah Mirghani, Don’t Get Too Comfortable by Shaimi Al Tamimi, When Beirut Was Beirut by Alessandra El Chanti, and Emsahar by Hassan Al Jahni.

Several awards have already been given to the films, both locally and abroad. The group will now pack their belongings and travel to Europe to participate in the festival's Shorts 2 program.

Rotterdam Arab Film Festival

The Arab Film Festival Rotterdam's mission as an artistic platform is to provide a secure space for open dialogues about art, human rights, liberation, and political freedom.

It collaborates closely with MENA producers and collaborators to pick each year films of the greatest quality and significant importance to their target audiences, including those from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, as well as Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.

It will be held from the 15th to the 19th of June this year.

A sneak peek at Qatar's film selection

• And Then They Burn the Sea

The short film, which was shot in a derelict fishermen's town in northern Qatar, is a memorial to the filmmaker's mother, who suffered from memory loss during the filming. "By combining existent family archives with reenacted nightmares, Al-Remaihi ruminates on a sense of familial loss of that which cannot be described but is powerfully felt," DFI added.

• Cotton Queen

is a film about a 15-year-old girl named Nafisha who lives in a Sudanese community where cotton is cultivated. She lives a humble life with her pals, growing cotton while catching affection for him.

• Don't Get Too Comfortable

The video is a multimedia letter to the director's paternal grandfather, reflecting on her family's move following his death more than 50 years ago. It incorporates historical images, found film, parallax animation, and incredible sound design.

• When Beirut Was Beirut

Three magnificent, empty buildings that saw Beirut's violent past are brought to life through a pleasant dialogue in a poetic hybrid documentary.

• Emasahar

​​​​​​​is a 2D animated short film about a young girl who uses the magical talents of a neighboring Ramadan drummer to try to prevent the death of her beloved grandmother.