Doha Film Festival Unveils 2026 Jury Headed By Naomi Kawase
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Naomi Kawase will chair the main international competition jury at the second Doha Film Festival, which runs from 19 to 27 November. The five-member panel will select winners from 15 films, bringing together work from across the Arab world, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
The other jurors are actor Adam Bessa, producer Dora Bouchoucha, documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, and filmmaker and artist Kamal Aljafari. Their work includes films recognised at Cannes, Berlin, Venice and other festivals, and several have previously collaborated with or received support from the Doha Film Institute. The festival expands on the Institute’s long-running Ajyal event.
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In short
- Naomi Kawase will lead the Doha Film Festival’s international jury.
- Five jurors will choose winners from 15 films.
- The festival runs from 19 to 27 November.
How this story developed
- 1 hour ago Naomi Kawase will chair the jury for the main international competition at the second Doha Film Festival, taking place in November.
- 2 hours ago Naomi Kawase will chair the main international competition jury at the second Doha Film Festival, which runs from 19 to 27 November. The five-member panel will select winners from 15 films, bringing together work from across the Arab world, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
Full account
Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase will lead the main international competition jury at the second Doha Film Festival, scheduled for 19–27 November in Qatar’s capital. The panel will select winners from 15 films representing the Arab world, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The festival is overseen by the Doha Film Institute (DFI), which has developed it from the youth-focused Ajyal Film Festival into a broader international event.
Kawase, who lives in her hometown of Nara, became the youngest recipient of Cannes’ Caméra d’Or for her debut feature, Suzaku (1997). She later received the festival’s Grand Prix for The Mourning Forest (2007) and the Ecumenical Jury Prize for Radiance (2017). Her latest feature, Yakushima’s Illusion, premiered in competition at Locarno in 2025. She has also served on the Cannes competition jury and previously mentored emerging filmmakers through DFI’s Qumra programme.
The other jurors are French-Tunisian actor Adam Bessa, Tunisian producer Dora Bouchoucha, Italian documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi and Palestinian filmmaker and artist Kamal Aljafari. Bessa gained international attention for Harka (2022), for which he won an acting award at Cannes, and has since appeared in films including Who Do I Belong To and Ghost Trail. Bouchoucha has produced work through her company Nomadis Images for three decades and is known for supporting emerging filmmakers. Rosi’s documentary work includes Sacro GRA, which won Venice’s Golden Lion, and Fire at Sea, recipient of Berlin’s Golden Bear. Aljafari’s films explore memory, history and identity; his With Hasan in Gaza received a Doha festival award for artistic achievement.
The festival’s top awards include prizes for narrative film, documentary, artistic achievement and performance. Its competition opener, announced earlier, is Sara Ishaq’s The Station, a drama about the effects of Yemen’s civil war. DFI chief executive Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said the jury members shared the institute’s commitment to independent cinema and to bringing distinctive stories to audiences. The institute has supported several films by Bessa and Aljafari, and both Kawase and Rosi have previously taken part in its Qumra programme.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The first report describes Kawase’s Cannes honours for The Mourning Forest and Radiance in more specific terms, while the second gives a broader account of her Cannes and Locarno awards and notes her experience serving on the Cannes competition jury.
The first report supplies more detail on the 15-film international line-up and the jurors’ careers, including DFI support for several projects. The second gives the festival dates, prize amounts, partners, the competition opener and a description of the festival’s expanded remit.
The first report’s quotation is cut off, while the second includes a complete statement from DFI chief executive Fatma Hassan Alremaihi.
Explained simply
The Doha Film Festival is a film event organised by the Doha Film Institute, a Qatar-based organisation that supports filmmakers and cinema. It builds on Ajyal, the Institute’s long-running festival, and brings films from different regions together for screenings and awards.
An international competition jury watches the selected films and chooses the winners. Its members are people with experience in acting, producing, documentary and other kinds of filmmaking, including work recognised at major film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin and Venice.
The awards can draw attention to films and the people who make them. The competition’s selection from across the Arab world, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas also gives audiences a chance to encounter cinema from a wide range of places.
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