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E. Nina Rothe

Film. Fashion. Life.
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The Diaries, because sometimes life needs more. 

Traveling through the desert in Doha

The Qumra Diaries: The life lessons learned and great persons met, thanks to the Doha Film Institute

E. Nina Rothe March 19, 2018

As of my very first steps at this year's Qumra, around the Souq Waqif, spent inside the Date Market fair and eating a bowl of fragrant Moroccan fava bean soup at a nearby restaurant, to my very last moments wandering inside the Hamad International Airport drinking an espresso with a fellow journalist, Doha gave me the very best she has to offer. And that's pretty darn sensational in a country that can count culture, fashion and heritage at the top of its list of priorities.

From the brand new, still partly in construction National Museum of Qatar rising out of the sands, and shaped like a Desert Rose, the crystallized rock that is formed when lighting hits the dunes, to the institution of the Museum of Islamic Art, where most of the Qumra events and masterclasses are held, to the leisurely, harass-free environment of the Souq itself, I felt like I was being coddled in a cocoon of culture and learning, one that would definitely remain with me for months to come. 

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In The Diaries, Cinema, Fashion Tags Qumra, Doha Film Institute, desert, Desert Rose, Tilda Swinton, Gianfranco Rosi, Bennett Miller, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Sandy Powell OBE, Qatar, Doha, Souq Waqif, Richard Pena, Gangs of New York, Shakespeare in Love, Velvet Goldmine, documentaries, Cannes Film Festival, Festival de Cannes, date festival, date market doha, Outlaid Mouaness\, 1982, Lebanon, The Rifle The Jackal The Wolf and the Boy, Dominga Sotomayor, The Village, Late to Die Young, South America, Chile, Santiago, Toronto International Film Festival, Cameron Bailey, Wong Kar-wai, Kenneth Branagh, Hercule Poirot, The Atlantic, Elijah Wolfson, Notturno, hondros, Greg Campbell, Chris Hondros, photojournalism
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Tilda Swinton and Cameron Bailey

Tilda Swinton and Cameron Bailey

The Qumra Diaries: Tilda Swinton, the Museum of Islamic Art and to Doha, with love

E. Nina Rothe March 10, 2018

From the moment I boarded the Qatar Airways plane in Fiumicino, I realized I was being transported somewhere special. I also knew my journey, as both a film writer and a human being, would be a life changing one.

To begin with, the airline offers Karak chai -- a milky tea infused with cardamom or saffron to taste -- and a choice of films that included 'Murder on the Orient Express', the new version by Kenneth Branagh. Not what I would have gone to the movies to watch it but at 30 thousand feet, flying over lands and bodies of water I'll probably never set foot on or swim through, cup of fragrant tea in hand one's taste adjusts. And I even found myself crying through some of Branagh's Hercule Poirot moments. 

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In Cinema, The Diaries Tags Qumra, Doha Film Institute, Doha, Qatar, Qatar Airways, Museum of Islamic Art, Souq Waqif, cinema, Arab Cinema, Murder on the Orient Express, Kenneth Branagh, karak chai, Hercule Poirot, tea, date festival, I. M. Pei, Qatari Film Fund, TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival, Cameron Bailey, Elia Suleiman, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Gianfranco Rosi, Fatma Al Remaihi, Oscar's best dressed list, Jio MAMI, Mumbai Film Festival, Smriti Kiran, masterclasses
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Elia Suleiman, photo courtesy of the Doha Film Institute

Elia Suleiman, photo courtesy of the Doha Film Institute

"If a director can come away from the event enchanted and inspired": Elia Suleiman and Hanaa Issa talk Qumra 2018

E. Nina Rothe March 9, 2018

They say if you want to learn about something, go to the source. 

For filmmakers in the Middle East, but also around the world, Elia Suleiman has long been the Oracle, the man with a knowledge to create momentous cinema, cinema that can change the world. Suleiman is the most brilliant source today of modern Arab cinema, the kind that breaks across borders and tears down the divide -- as his frequent trips to international film festivals and award ceremonies have proved. 

So I thought, if it works for filmmakers, it could work for me. I shall ask Suleiman about Qumra myself, so I can unravel the mystery of this yearly event held in Qatar, under the auspices of the Doha Film Institute. I mean, the DFI has been very open and forthcoming about their week-long-mentorship-slash-industry-meet-and-greet-slash-film-connection event, but I still hadn't found a fascinating enough explanation of it in the media. One that would hold my attention and really explain the ins and out of Qumra.

Until I met Suleiman, DFI's Artistic Advisor and Hanaa Issa, Deputy Director of Qumra and Director of Strategy and Development at Doha Film Institute during Berlinale. One Sunday morning in Berlin, a leisurely breakfast talk later and now eagerly anticipating the start of Qumra in Doha, I finally understand.

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In The Diaries, Cinema, Interviews Tags Qumra, Doha Film Institute, Doha, Qatar, Elia Suleiman, Hanaa Issa, Berlinale, Berlin, filmmaking, arab cinema, Middle East, DFI, masterclass, film, cinema
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Tilda Swinton photographed by Brigitte Lacombe

Tilda Swinton photographed by Brigitte Lacombe

Iconic Masters and golden projects featured at this year's Qumra in Doha

E. Nina Rothe March 5, 2018

Qatar is the couture state of the Arab world. They watched and learned from the mistakes of all the other Gulf countries that were declared as states before them, and then Qatar set about to reinvent how we view culture, fashion, art and film. You can't watch an award ceremony these days without the presence for the Doha Film Institute in the credits of at least one of the films nominated, the Museum Authority of the peninsular state has assembled and created, and is set to unveil more beauty than my eyes can hold -- just a visit to the Islamic Art Museum will confirm my words -- and of course, the Emir's family owns some of the fashion world's most beloved brands. 

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In Cinema, The Diaries Tags Qatar, Doha, Doha Film Institute, Okja, Masters, filmmakers, Brigitte Lacombe, Tilda Swinton, Gulf countries, Arab world, Islamic Art Museum, Qumra, Gianfranco Rosi, E. Nina Rothe, feature narrative, documentaries, Berlinale, Golden Bear, Fuocoammare, Fire at Sea, Oscars, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thai, Thailand, Cannes Film Festival, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Palme d'Or, Leviathan, Loveless, Russia, Golden Globes, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Sandy Powell OBE, The Young Victoria, Shakespeare in Love, The Aviator, Bennett Miller, Capote, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Truman Capote, Elia Suleiman, Hanaa Issa, DFI
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Valeria Golino and Alba Rohrwacher in Laura Bispuri's 'Daughter of Mine'© Vivo film / Colorado Film / Match Factory Productions / Bord Cadre Films

Valeria Golino and Alba Rohrwacher in Laura Bispuri's 'Daughter of Mine'

© Vivo film / Colorado Film / Match Factory Productions / Bord Cadre Films

The Berlinale Diaries: Elia Suleiman talks Qumra plus Laura Bispuri's 'Daughter of Mine'

E. Nina Rothe February 19, 2018

From the fabulous women of 'Daughter of Mine' to a wondrous man, my early Sunday morning at Berlinale was spent in the company of Elia Suleiman, the Palestinian filmmaker extraordinaire and Artistic Advisor of the Doha Film Institute. 

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In Cinema, Festival, The Diaries Tags Doha Film Institute, Qumra, Daughter of Mine, Figlia Mia, Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher, Laura Bispuri, Berlinale, Berlin, Berlin Film Festival, Hanna Issa, Elia Suleiman, Mohamed Ben Attia, Palestine, Amal Al-Muftah, Sh'hab, Basil Khalil, Ave Maria, Dora Bouchoucha, Weldi, Gianfranco Rosi, Cannes, Oscars, Sandy Powell, Bennett Miller, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Sara Casu, Italian cinema, Arab cinema, Qatar, Doha
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