The Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) presents the 8th Ajyal Film Festival

Wadad Hachichou -Doha, Qatar

The Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) presents the 8th Ajyal Film Festival in a first-ever hybrid format from 18-23 November. The Festival will open withacclaimed director Majid Majidi’s Sun Children (Iran/2020), which debuted at Venice Film Festival earlier this year.

Centring around the issue of child labour, Sun Childrenillustrates the resiliency and creativity of youth, which when nurtured brings lasting social change and creates the great innovators and problem-solvers of tomorrow.

DFI is proud to have supported 24 films at the Festival in its programmes, including Grants, Co-Financing, Qatari Film Fund and mentorship through our labs and workshops. These include: 200 Meters, Unusual Summer, Gevar’s Land, Their Algeria,among others.

This year’s public film programme builds on Ajyal’s strong reputation for curating the best in international cinema with aline-up of 80 films from 46 countries including 22 features and 50shorts, 31 by incredible Arab filmmakers and 30 helmed by extraordinary women directors.

The spirit of Ajyal is about bringing communities together, and the challenges of this year have opened exciting new opportunities to bring even more people together in the communal cinema experience beyond physical attendance. With the safety of all participants in mind, film screenings can be enjoyed via a mix of DFI’s online streaming platform, at in-person screenings at VOX Cinemas Doha Festival City and the exciting new Drive-In Cinema experience at Lusail in partnership with Qatar National Tourism Council. Expanding our audiences beyond Qatar borders, various countries in the MENA region will also have access to a select lineup of Festival films online.