Doha Film Institute Taps García Bernal, Diego Luna, and Alice Diop as 2026 Qumra Masters

The Doha Film Institute announced Saturday that Mexican actors and filmmakers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, French director Alice Diop, Moroccan auteur Faouzi Bensaïdi, and Argentine-born Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla will serve as Qumra Masters at the 12th edition of the institute's annual incubator program, running March 27 through April 1 in the Qatari capital Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alice Diop, Faouzi Bensaïdi & Gustavo Santaolalla Set As 2026 Qumra Mastersdeadline.com·SecondaryMexico will be out in force at the 12th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s annual project and talent incubator Qumra, running from March 27 to April 1. Mexican actors, directors and producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will be attending the event as Qumra Masters alongside Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, French director Alice Diop and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla..

Qumra — Arabic for "camera" — is a hybrid creative workshop, co-production market, and mini-festival designed to support first- and second-time filmmakers, primarily from the Middle East and North Africa. Each Qumra Master delivers a public talk on their career and creative process, then provides one-on-one mentorship to a curated selection of roughly 50 grant-recipient projects Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alice Diop, Faouzi Bensaïdi & Gustavo Santaolalla Set As 2026 Qumra Mastersdeadline.com·SecondaryMexico will be out in force at the 12th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s annual project and talent incubator Qumra, running from March 27 to April 1. Mexican actors, directors and producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will be attending the event as Qumra Masters alongside Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, French director Alice Diop and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla..

The selection of García Bernal carries particular symbolic weight. The Mexican star, best known internationally for Amores Perros, Y Tu Mamá También, and The Motorcycle Diaries, was a Qumra Master during the program's inaugural edition in 2015 . DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi noted his return as evidence of the program's lasting impact. "Welcoming these luminaries as our 2026 Qumra Masters reflects our belief that generous mentorship can change creative trajectories," she said Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alice Diop, Faouzi Bensaïdi & Gustavo Santaolalla Set As 2026 Qumra Mastersdeadline.com·SecondaryMexico will be out in force at the 12th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s annual project and talent incubator Qumra, running from March 27 to April 1. Mexican actors, directors and producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will be attending the event as Qumra Masters alongside Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, French director Alice Diop and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla..

García Bernal is currently working on his third directorial feature, Hombre Al Agua, adding to credits that include Déficit, which premiered at Cannes Critics' Week, and Chicuarotes Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alice Diop, Faouzi Bensaïdi & Gustavo Santaolalla Set As 2026 Qumra Mastersdeadline.com·SecondaryMexico will be out in force at the 12th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s annual project and talent incubator Qumra, running from March 27 to April 1. Mexican actors, directors and producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will be attending the event as Qumra Masters alongside Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, French director Alice Diop and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla.. Luna, his longtime collaborator since their breakout in Alfonso Cuarón's Y Tu Mamá También, has built a parallel career as a director and producer. Together, they co-founded the production company La Corriente del Golfo and more recently co-starred in the Hulu series La Máquina Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alice Diop, Faouzi Bensaïdi & Gustavo Santaolalla Set As 2026 Qumra Mastersdeadline.com·SecondaryMexico will be out in force at the 12th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s annual project and talent incubator Qumra, running from March 27 to April 1. Mexican actors, directors and producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will be attending the event as Qumra Masters alongside Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, French director Alice Diop and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla..

DFI artistic advisor Elia Suleiman, the Palestinian filmmaker behind Divine Intervention and It Must Be Heaven, told Variety that both García Bernal and Luna's multi-hyphenate careers make them particularly valuable mentors. "It's quite interesting to have people who know more than one [industry] role," Suleiman said Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Alice Diop and More Set for Doha Film Institute Qumra Masters Lineupvariety.com·SecondaryThe unique event, now celebrating its 12th edition, will run March 27-April 1 in the Qatari capital of Doha The Doha Film Institute has recruited Mexican multi-hyphenates Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, Venice prizewinner Alice Diop, Moroccan auteur Faouzi Bensaïdi, and Oscar-winning composer and producer Gustavo Santaolalla to hold onstage conversations and act as mentors during its upcoming Qumra Arab industry incubator..

The other three masters bring equally diverse credentials. Diop, whose documentary-fiction hybrid Saint Omer won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, represents a rigorous European auteur tradition rooted in social observation . Bensaïdi, one of Morocco's most recognized directors, last screened Deserts in Cannes Directors' Fortnight in 2023 and has acted in films by Jacques Audiard and Bertrand Bonello . Santaolalla, the Argentine composer who won back-to-back Academy Awards for Brokeback Mountain and Babel, brings a music-industry perspective rarely represented in filmmaker incubators Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alice Diop, Faouzi Bensaïdi & Gustavo Santaolalla Set As 2026 Qumra Mastersdeadline.com·SecondaryMexico will be out in force at the 12th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s annual project and talent incubator Qumra, running from March 27 to April 1. Mexican actors, directors and producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will be attending the event as Qumra Masters alongside Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, French director Alice Diop and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla..

The track record of Qumra-supported projects lends credibility to the DFI's talent pipeline. 2025 attendees included Hasan Hadi's The President's Cake, which subsequently won the Cannes Caméra d'Or and landed on the Academy Award shortlist for Best International Feature Film; Erige Sehiri's Promised Sky, which opened Cannes Un Certain Regard and won best film at Marrakech; and Suzannah Mirghani's Cotton Queen, which debuted in Venice Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alice Diop, Faouzi Bensaïdi & Gustavo Santaolalla Set As 2026 Qumra Mastersdeadline.com·SecondaryMexico will be out in force at the 12th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s annual project and talent incubator Qumra, running from March 27 to April 1. Mexican actors, directors and producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will be attending the event as Qumra Masters alongside Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, French director Alice Diop and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla..

At this year's Berlinale, three DFI-supported films are screening: Franco-Lebanese director Danielle Arbid's Panorama section opener Only Rebels Win, starring Hiam Abbas; Palestinian Syrian filmmaker Abdallah Alkhatib's Chronicles from the Siege in Perspectives; and Egyptian psychological thriller Safe Exit by Mohammed Hammad Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Alice Diop and More Set for Doha Film Institute Qumra Masters Lineupvariety.com·SecondaryThe unique event, now celebrating its 12th edition, will run March 27-April 1 in the Qatari capital of Doha The Doha Film Institute has recruited Mexican multi-hyphenates Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, Venice prizewinner Alice Diop, Moroccan auteur Faouzi Bensaïdi, and Oscar-winning composer and producer Gustavo Santaolalla to hold onstage conversations and act as mentors during its upcoming Qumra Arab industry incubator..

The DFI, founded in 2010 by Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, has grown into one of the most significant funding bodies for independent Arab cinema. At Cannes 2025, the institute had eight features in competition or parallel sections, including a Palme d'Or contender. It has also expanded into television production funding in recent years.

Critics of Gulf state cultural investment have long questioned whether these initiatives serve genuine artistic development or function primarily as soft-power vehicles. Qatar's broader cultural spending — from the Museum of Islamic Art to World Cup infrastructure — has attracted scrutiny over labor conditions and strategic image management. The DFI's defenders point to concrete outcomes: dozens of festival selections, awards, and emerging filmmakers who credit the program with launching their careers.

Suleiman addressed the program's philosophy in characteristically abstract terms. "Cinema begins where certainty ends. It exists in the tension between what is seen and what is felt," he said. "At Qumra, we gather not to teach, but to open doors" Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alice Diop, Faouzi Bensaïdi & Gustavo Santaolalla Set As 2026 Qumra Mastersdeadline.com·SecondaryMexico will be out in force at the 12th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s annual project and talent incubator Qumra, running from March 27 to April 1. Mexican actors, directors and producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will be attending the event as Qumra Masters alongside Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, French director Alice Diop and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla..

The full project lineup and additional guest details will be announced in the coming weeks Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alice Diop, Faouzi Bensaïdi & Gustavo Santaolalla Set As 2026 Qumra Mastersdeadline.com·SecondaryMexico will be out in force at the 12th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s annual project and talent incubator Qumra, running from March 27 to April 1. Mexican actors, directors and producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will be attending the event as Qumra Masters alongside Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, French director Alice Diop and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla..