Doha Film Festival (DFF) is placing Qatar’s homegrown filmmaking talent centre stage, with eight films selected for its 2026 Made in Qatar Competition.
Running from the 19th to the 27th of November, the festival will showcase a new generation of storytellers exploring personal relationships, cultural memory and the boundaries of cinematic imagination.
Bringing together Qatari filmmakers and residents working across a range of genres, this year’s selection reflects the growing diversity of voices contributing to the country’s creative landscape. From supernatural encounters in the desert to intimate portraits of family life, the films demonstrate the breadth of stories emerging from Qatar’s developing screen industry.
Among the selected titles is Abu Fanoos, directed by Amira Abujbara and Horia El Hadad, which follows an ageing grandfather attempting to protect his grandson from an eerie presence during a desert trip. In After the Rain, Kholood Al Ali takes a more fantastical approach, following a lonely woman who discovers a lost unicorn and sets out to help it find its way home.
Other films explore the complexities of human relationships and the passage of time. Maysaa Almumin’s Constant examines an imperceptible shift in a seemingly perfect marriage, while Hamad Al Fayhani’s Crawling Into Myself centres on a man whose rare illness leads him into isolation. In Ghafleh, Tony El Ghazal follows a watchmaker racing to create the perfect timepiece as he confronts his absence from his daughter’s life.
The programme also includes Sebastian Delascasas’s In the Silence After, an intimate reflection on love and memory, and Yazid Taki’s Kantqtaa, which explores a mother’s silence about her own body within the routines of domestic life. Completing the selection, Nadia Al-Khater’s Light to Ashes follows a young warrior-poet searching for his family after they are lost in a sandstorm.
The competition will be judged by Qatari filmmaker Al Johara Al Thani, Lebanese actress and filmmaker Yumna Marwan, and Palestinian Belgian filmmaker and producer Naël Khleifi.
“Through Made in Qatar, we are committed to championing homegrown talent, encouraging bold and original stories, and providing a platform for them to connect with audiences and the international film community,” said Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, CEO of Doha Film Institute and Festival Director of DFF.
With its focus on locally rooted storytelling and emerging creative voices, Made in Qatar reinforces the festival’s commitment to nurturing filmmaking talent and connecting Qatar’s stories with audiences beyond its borders.
