Qatar’s Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced the recipients of its 2026 Spring Grants cycle, spanning 48 projects at differing stages of creation from 39 countries.

Among the film projects is About Love & September Laws, the second feature by Mohamed Kordofani after Khartoum-set drama Goodbye Julia, which made history in Cannes in 2023 as the first Sudanese film to play in the festival.

With his last film exploring Goodbye Julia exploring the events of 2011 when South Sudan broke away from the north, his new drama is set in Sudan in 1983 as Sharia Law takes hold.

Palestinian director Muayad Alayan has also won support for Conversation with the Sea about a 60-year-old Palestinian man caught up in Israeli bureaucracy after he is ordered by an Israeli court to pay a large social security debt on behalf of his dead son who died in suspicious circumstances.

Other recipients include Greek-Lebanese-Palestinian director Theo Panagopoulos with documentary Before Our Diaspora. It follows his The Flowers Stand Silently, which won best short film at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in 2024 and was also Bafta nominated. The new work takes its cue from Scottish archival films of 1930s and 1940s Palestine.

The recipients also feature 2026 Cannes-selected films, post-genocide Rwanda drama Ben’Imana by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, which won the Caméra d’Or for best first film across all sections; Strawberries and 9 Temples to Heaven.

Awarded biannually in the spring and fall, the grants support Qatari and Qatar-based filmmakers, as well as emerging and established voices from across the MENA region and beyond.

The program is one of the longest-running film development initiatives in the region, dedicated to identifying and empowering first and second-time filmmakers globally alongside established MENA directors in Post-Production.

The DFI said the2026 Spring Grants cycle reflected the diversity and global reach of contemporary cinema, with projects from MENA countries including Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, KSA, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and the UAE.

Internationally, the selected projects represent Cuba, Canada, Chile, France, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, and the UK.

“In a world that is constantly changing, culture remains one of our most powerful anchors – preserving our memories, shaping our identities and connecting us across generations,” said Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Film Institute.

“More than ever, we need authentic stories that reflect the complexity of human experiences and safeguard the histories, perspectives and voices that might otherwise be forgotten.

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