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For nine days in November, Doha showed what a film festival could look like when a city treated culture as a shared civic experience rather than a curated spectacle. The Doha Film Festival (DFF), held in late November, unfolded as a statement of intent: that regional storytelling was ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with global cinema, and that audiences were willing to engage with films that challenged, provoked, and expanded their imaginations.

This edition was built as the “bold next chapter” of the Doha Film Institute’s mission, but in practice it became something wider, a demonstration of how an Arab cultural institution could move beyond tradition while staying anchored in community and history.

At the center of the festival stood its official selection, divided across four competitions: International Feature, International Short, the youth-driven Ajyal program, and Made in Qatar, which continued to be a vital showcase for the country’s emerging filmmakers. These competitions created a spine for the festival, but what gave DFF its character was the way films, concerts, panels, and community events were threaded into a single narrative of cultural exchange.

The festival opened with The Voice of Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben Hania’s haunting retelling of a six-year-old’s final plea, grounding the week in grief, accountability, and resistance. Its panel urged audiences to confront........

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