Doha Film Institute (DFI) has launched a new fund to promote film production in Qatar and the Gulf region, thus providing opportunity to produce six high quality short films written and directed by Qatari and Gulf filmmakers, annually.

Qatar’s dedicated organisation for films, DFI said the new initiative under its Gulf Film Development, will support these films with up to QR250,000 ($68,622) funding for each project

Each selected project will be shot entirely in Qatar and the films to be produced will have the opportunity to premiere at the next edition of Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF), the institute said.

It will also be submitted for regional and international film festivals, it added.

Mahdi Al Ali, the manager of the Gulf Film Development, said, "Hazawi Fund builds on the core commitment of DFI to promote the growth of the regional film industry. With a number of talented youngsters stepping into the film industry, Khaleeji cinema is fast gaining ground."

"They need tangible support – both in terms of financing and mentoring – to tell their stories. Hazawi Fund is dedicated to help identify emerging talent from the Gulf region and further support them to make compelling short films, under DFI’s supervision. This will eventually help to present the region’s cinematic ambitions to a global audience,” Ali noted.

The submissions to the Hazawi Fund are open untill March 1 for with the following requirements;
•Applicants must be either the director or producer of the film project, and a GCC national
•DFI will appoint a GCC national producer to a project that has been selected without a producer attached to it.
•The submissions must be original scripts and not longer than 10 pages.
•The duration of the films is up to 10 minutes. The selected project must be completed in 10 weeks, with three weeks for pre-production, one week for shooting and six weeks for post-production.
•All equipment needed including camera, standard lighting and sound packages will be provided by DFI, along with other technical and production support.
•DFI will provide mentorship for the key creative crew.
•The selected projects will be notified by March 15, 2013.

The Hazawi Fund highlights DFI’s focus on promoting the growth of the Arab film industry across the region, said Ali.

“Through Hazawi Fund, we are giving a robust platform for the region’s filmmakers to further build their competencies, and eventually helm feature films that are being produced by DFI,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service