A New Chapter in Cinematic Storytelling
The Doha Film Institute (DFI) has unveiled a groundbreaking publication titled Atlas of Cinematic Affinities: 15 Years of Doha Film Institute. This landmark book is the first of its kind, offering an in-depth look at the collective cinematic journeys of independent filmmakers from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and beyond. It serves as a unique window into the creative process, revealing how stories are imagined, shaped, and brought to life.
At its core, the book invites readers into the intimate, often unseen space of filmmaking. Filmmakers were encouraged to share materials from their creative journeys, including notebook sketches, mood boards, family archives, and the music that accompanied them through production. The response was overwhelming, with over 8,000 pages of submissions from filmmakers across more than 80 countries. This rich collection results in a curated archive and a design object that reflects the diversity of voices, themes, and cinematic approaches, while also carrying the emotional depth of the stories behind them.
The Concept Behind the Atlas
The title Atlas of Cinematic Affinities captures the essence of the book. An “atlas” maps relationships and distances, while “cinematic affinities” reveal the invisible threads—shared influences, recurring gestures, and creative echoes—that connect filmmakers across languages, borders, and generations. This publication makes those connections visible, tracing a constellation of storytelling that transcends geography.
Fatma Hassan Al Remaihi, CEO of DFI, described the book as more than just a publication. She emphasized that it is a living record of a generation of storytellers and the journeys that have shaped them. The book captures the creative process in its most honest and unfiltered form, preserving not just the films themselves, but the ideas, influences, and emotions behind them. As DFI looks to the future, this publication will serve as a crucial document reflecting how cinematic voices have evolved, how they are connected, and how they will continue to inspire future storytellers.
A Reflection of Regional and Global Transformation
Developed during a period of profound regional and global transformation, the book reflects a generation of filmmakers shaped by complex histories and lived realities. Emerging alongside Qatar’s broader national investment in culture, education, and innovation, DFI has supported voices navigating themes of identity, memory, resistance, and possibility. This continues a legacy of cinema deeply engaged with both personal and collective narratives.
Zaina Bseiso, the editor of the publication, explained that the concept for Atlas of Cinematic Affinities emerged from a desire to highlight the moments often overlooked in a filmmaker's journey. While we celebrate finished films, we rarely make space for the questions, inspirations, trials, and tribulations that lead to the final image. The book was conceived as a journey to be experienced, one where emotional resonance prevails. Its structure is associative and relational, allowing a gaze, movement, color, or shape to build upon or contrast against another to form an idea or evoke a feeling.
Designing the Cinematic Experience
Nathalie Elmir, the art director, shared her vision for the book's design. The design began with a central question: how can moving images be translated into paper, and how can motion be created while carrying the intimacy of a moment? The page was approached as a cinematic surface, where images could be layered, repeated, reframed, interrupted, and paused. Through varied paper textures and weights, shifting page sizes, bilingual rhythm, associative sequencing, and a changing color palette, the book moves through fragments like one might move through memory, time, and space.
Each design decision was guided by the desire to create a tactile experience that captures the momentum of cinematic affinities—intimate, archival, and constantly in motion.
Contributions from Leading Voices
The publication is further enriched by contributions from leading voices in cinema and cultural discourse. Acclaimed scholar Viola Shafik offers critical academic insight, while a series of speculative reflections on the future of Arab cinema by Fahad Al-Kuwari, Amal Saadallah, Ahmed Al-Ayyad, Kais Zaied, Alia Ayman, Mary Jirmanus Saba, Samia Labidi, and Emna Lakhoua bring imaginative and forward-looking perspectives. Together, these voices anchor the book in both critical rigour and creative possibility.
Two Defining Innovations
Two defining design innovations shape the publication: its fully bilingual Arabic-English format, where language itself becomes a visual and structural element; and a format that echoes the rhythm of the moving image, giving the book a distinctly cinematic quality that extends beyond the page.
A Milestone in DFI’s Journey
With its scale, depth, and vision, Atlas of Cinematic Affinities stands as a defining milestone in DFI’s 15-year journey. It maps a global community of filmmakers and reaffirms the Institute’s role in championing bold, resonant storytelling.
This remarkable publication is now available for preorder through the following link:
https://www.kaphbooks.com/books/atlas-cinematic-affinities-15-years-doha-film-institute/
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