Doha Film Institute announced the addition of award-winning actor and producer Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Knives Out, Hereditary) as a Qumra Master for the 10th edition taking place from March 1 to March 6, 2024 in Doha.

Founder of Vocab Films, Toni joins acclaimed film visionaries, Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martín Hernández, and Jim Sheridan for the 2024 event dedicated to supporting important new voices from Arab and world cinema.

On its tenth anniversary, Qumra will offer networking and development opportunities for more than 40 projects from emerging filmmakers from over 20 countries, as part of its mission to accelerate the success of filmmakers from the region and beyond and prepare them to bring their stories to audiences around the world.

Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Chief Executive Officer of the Doha Film Institute, said: “Each edition of Qumra continues to expand in the diversity of new voices in cinema, especially from emerging markets. We are honoured to welcome the contribution of accomplished actor and producer Toni Collette as one of our Masters. Her incredible command of storytelling and bringing humanity to characters makes her a perfect addition to the line-up of cinema luminaries who will provide invaluable mentorship to this year’s projects.

She added, “Qumra underlines the Institute’s commitment to support promising global filmmakers in their script-to-screen journey and accelerate the success of standout projects ready to launch. Filmmakers that are traditionally under-represented in global cinema gain the opportunity to further hone the skills and develop the network they need to take their projects to the next level at Qumra.”

Talents associated with the projects will participate in intensive mentoring sessions from March 1 to 6 in Doha and online sessions from March 9 to 11, providing them with an extended period of training and networking opportunities.

The projects were selected by an expert panel of judges from hundreds of submissions received from filmmakers across the world. These include 13 feature narratives, 11 documentaries, 11 shorts and 7 web/TV series in various stages of production. Among the projects, 11 are helmed by Qatari or Qatar-based directors, including seven by nationals. This further underlines the fast-paced evolution of the country’s cinematic ecosystem led by talented nationals and those who call the country home.

Among the selected projects, 32 are recipients of Doha Film Institute’s Grants programme, and 3 are supported through the Qatari Film Fund. Highlighting the strong support system offered by the Institute, 15 have participated in DFI Training Programmes such as the Hezayah Scriptwriting Lab, Producers Lab, Shorts Script Lab, Doc Lab with Rithy Panh, Series Lab, and First Cut Lab.

Filmmakers with projects selected at Qumra 2024 come from diverse countries, including Afghanistan, Algeria, United Kingdom, Croatia, Egypt, France, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Myanmar, Palestine, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tunisia, and Yemen.

The selected projects will receive tailored creative mentorship on a broad range of subjects related to storytelling, filmmaking, directing, editing, cinematography and sound—focusing on the specific needs of the project at hand. They will also receive bespoke business advice on financing and co-production strategy, marketing & packaging, project positioning, festival, and distribution strategies, pitching and matchmaking.

Some of the projects in the latter stages of development will participate in a series of closed rough-cut screenings to international festival programmers, broadcasters, market representatives, sales agents, and distributors.