Doha Film Institute is the one institute in the Gulf region I wish to be replicated here in the United Arab Emirates. It’s been consistent in supporting and developing films made in Qatar (albeit most are short films) and have a good track record of critically acclaimed international films they’ve funded.

They also host regular film screenings in venues like the Auditorium of the Museum of Islamic Arts (MIa) and the Katara Drama Theatre, worthwhile examples to be followed by similar venues in the UAE.

Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Auditorium was a space I had the pleasure of curating film screenings, 8 seasons of film programs between 2018-2020, that sadly stopped because of COVID-19, and there doesn’t seem to any interest in bringing back regular screenings since they museum has gone back to regular programming. But there are so many other underused cultural venues with auditoriums in the country that can be given to film curators or anyone interested in film programming.

But back to Doha Film Institute, I am writing this because their next film program is one that I wish I could attend, a film series about Moufida Tlatli. It is happening between June 2-5, showing two films directed by her, and two films she edited.

I will be showing my favorite film by her and one of my all time favourites, The Silences of the Palace on June 4 in Abu Dhabi at the CineMAS Film Festival. A very small consolation for now, but I hope a program showing more of Moufida Tlatli’s works can happen in the near future that I can attend. I still feel sad whenever I remember the Academy Museum screened The Silences of the Palace and The Season of Men on 35mm in February 2022 and that I wasn’t able to be there.

If you are in or near Doha, try not to miss this.

Director, Editor, Pioneer: A Moufida Tlatli Film Series
Museum of Islamic Art Auditorium, June 2-5, 2023
Join us for a weekend celebration of the pioneering director and editor, Moufida Tlatli, one of the first female filmmakers from the Arab world to achieve worldwide acclaim. Born in Tunisia in 1947, Tlatli studied editing in Paris before returning to Tunis in 1972. Her name appears on the credits of some of the most influential Arab films from 1970 to 1990, including Michel Khleifi’s ‘Fertile Memory’ (1981), Nacer Khemir’s ‘Wanderers of the Desert’ (1984), and ‘Caméra Arabe’ (1987) by Ferid Boughhedir.
She came to international attention in 1994 when her debut film, ‘The Silences of the Palace’, won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival’s Golden Camera, the Golden Tanit of Carthage, the British Film Institute Awards’ Sutherland Trophy, and Toronto Film Festival’s International Critics’ Award. Her second film, ‘The Season of Men’, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and extended her reputation as a unique and powerful female voice in Arab filmmaking.
Tlatli’s groundbreaking films paved the way for Arab feminist and independent cinema—leaving a lasting impression on the Arab filmmaking industry and beyond.

This is the line up:

Friday, 2 June 2023 at 7:00pm: Wanderers of the DeserT (Nacer Khemir, 1984)

Saturday, 3 June 2023 at 7:00pm: The Silences of the Palace (Moufida Tlatli, 1994)

Sunday, 4 June 2023 at 7:00pm: The Season of Men (Moufida Tlatli, 2000)

Monday, 5 June 2023 at 7:00pm: Fertile Memory (Michel Khleifi, 1981)

More details and ticketing info can be found here: https://www.dohafilminstitute.com/events/dfi-cinema

Doha Film Institute: Moufida Tlatli Film Series