Top Awards at Doha Film Festival Go to ‘Sleepless City,’ ‘My Father and Qaddafi,’ and ‘Fahad the Furious’ Alongside $300,000 in Prizes

Spanish Director Guillermo Galoe’s Sleepless City Wins Best Narrative at Doha Film Festival

Spanish director Guillermo Galoe’s debut feature, Sleepless City, secured the top accolade of $75,000 for Best Narrative at the inaugural Doha Film Festival, which concluded on Friday. This groundbreaking festival showcased a diverse array of films, presenting a platform for both emerging and established voices in cinema.

Sleepless City is a hybrid film filmed in La Cañada Real, Europe’s largest illegal settlement on the outskirts of Madrid. With the collaboration of local residents, the movie tells the poignant story of a teenage Roma boy whose family’s scrapyard is threatened by impending demolition.

The jury, led by Oscar-nominated documentarian Rithy Panh, included notable figures such as director and screenwriter Raja Amari, actor and filmmaker Dhafer L’Abidine, photographer Brigitte Lacombe, and Final Cut Venice Founder Alessandra Speciale.

In addition to Galoe’s win, several other awards were presented. Jihan’s My Father and Qaddafi was recognized as Best Documentary. The Best Performance Award went to Majd Eid and Nader Abd Alhay for their roles in Once Upon A Time In Gaza, while Kamal Al Jafari for With Hasan in Gaza and Chie Hayakawa for Renoir both received the Best Artistic Achievement prize.

In the International Short Film Competition, Leonardo Martinelli’s Samba Infinito, which tells the story of a street cleaner grappling with personal loss during Rio’s Carnival, was awarded the best film. Samba Infinito premiered earlier this year at Cannes Critics’ Week.

The Made in Qatar Competition honored local-based filmmaker Justin Kramer’s Fahad the Furious with the best film award, and its star Rashid Al Sheeb earned the Abdulaziz Jassim Award for Performance.

The AJYAL Film Competition, featuring a youth jury, bestowed its Best Feature prize on The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania. This drama, which addresses the tragic death of six-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza during Israeli fire, opened the festival with a moving screening introduced by the girl’s mother.

The festival, organized by the Doha Film Institute, featured 97 films from 62 countries across four competitive sections along with a gala strand. It commenced with a strong start, highlighted by the inaugural Industry Days that included announcements of partnerships with industry giants such as Neon and Sony, along with a 50% film rebate offer.

Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Festival Director and CEO of DFI, emphasized the festival’s commitment to showcasing unheard stories and voices. "This festival is a promise that creativity will always have a space, that diverse voices will always be heard," she stated.

Alremaihi added, "Every story shared here has reminded us that film is one of humanity’s greatest bridges connecting us beyond borders, backgrounds, and differences to push our collective vision forward."

Winners Overview:

International Feature Film Competition:

• Special Mention: The Reserve by Pablo Pérez Lombardini
• Best Performance Award: shared by Majd Eid and Nader Abd Alhay (Once Upon a Time In Gaza)
• Best Artistic Achievement: shared by Kamal Al Jafari (With Hasan in Gaza) and Chie Hayakawa (Renoir)
• Best Documentary: My Father and Qaddafi by Jihan
• Best Narrative: Sleepless City by Guillermo Galoe

International Short Film Competition:

• Special Mention: L’Mina by Randa Maaroufi
• Special Mention for Performance: Ammar Ahmed (Zizou)
• Best Performance: Milica Janevski (Upon Sunrise)
• Best Director: Aria Sánchez & Marina Meira (Primary Education)
• Best Film: Samba Infinito (Leonardo Martinelli)

Made in Qatar Competition:

• Special Mention: Project Aisha by Fahad Al-Nahdi
• Abdulaziz Jassim Award for Performance: Rashid Al Sheeb (Fahad the Furious)
• Best Director: Eiman Mirghani (Villa 187)
• Best Film: Fahad the Furious by Justin Kramer

Ajyal Film Competition:

• Best Feature: The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania
• Best Short: Sulaimani by Vinnie Ann Bose

Audience Award:

• Cotton Queen by Suzannah Mirghani