Japanese director Naomi Kawase has been named president of the main international competition jury for the second edition of the Doha Film Festival (DFF), running November 19–27. The announcement was made by the Doha Film Institute (DFI), which oversees the festival.
Kawase will be joined on the jury by French Tunisian actor Adam Bessa, Tunisian producer Dora Bouchoucha, Italian documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, and award-winning Palestinian filmmaker and artist Kamal Aljafari. The panel will select winning films from a 15-title international lineup spanning the Arab world, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
Kawase: Cannes Regular and DFI Alumna
Born and based in Nara, Japan, Kawase is a Cannes regular who became the youngest recipient of the Caméra d’Or for her debut feature Suzaku. She later won the Grand Prix for The Mourning Forest (2007). Her film Radiance (2017) received the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Cannes, while her latest feature, Yakushima’s Illusion (2025), premiered in competition at Locarno.
Kawase previously served as a DFI Qumra Master in 2016, mentoring emerging filmmakers from Qatar and beyond.
Jury Members Bring Global Accolades
Adam Bessa broke out internationally in Lotfy Nathan’s Harka (2022), winning Best Performance in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and Best Actor at the Red Sea International Film Festival. He later starred in Meryam Joobeur’s Who Do I Belong To (2024) and Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail, earning a César nomination. In 2026, he appeared in Asghar Farhadi’s Parallel Tales. DFI supported all three films.
Dora Bouchoucha is one of the Arab world’s most influential producers and a longtime advocate for emerging filmmakers. Through her 30-year-old company Nomadis Images, her credits include Satin Rouge, Inhebbek Hedi, Weldi, Behind the Mountains, Souad, and Aisha Can’t Fly Away.
Gianfranco Rosi is the only documentary filmmaker to have won both the Golden Lion at Venice and the Golden Bear at Berlin. Sacro GRA (2013) became the first documentary to win Venice’s Golden Lion, while Fire at Sea (2016) won the Golden Bear and a European Film Award and received an Academy Award nomination. His Notturno (2020) competed at Venice, and Below the Clouds (2025) won the festival’s Special Jury Prize. Rosi was a DFI Qumra Master in 2018.
Kamal Aljafari is known for a cinematic practice exploring memory, history, identity, and the politics of images. His feature A Fidai Film (2024) won the Jury Prize in the Burning Lights Competition at Visions du Réel and the Tanit d’Or at Carthage. His documentary With Hasan in Gaza (2025) received Best Artistic Achievement at the Doha Film Festival. Both films were supported by DFI, which is also backing his forthcoming feature Beirut 1931.
Festival Expands DFI’s Legacy
The Doha Film Festival expands on DFI’s long-running family-focused Ajyal festival, which ran for more than a decade during the same period.
“Independent cinema is where the most vital, courageous and transformative stories of our time find their voice,” said Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, CEO of DFI and Director of DFF. “It is our responsibility to protect the creative freedom to challenge conventions, bring overlooked perspectives to the screen and build bridges across cultures.”
She added: “We are immensely proud to welcome friends of the Institute who share our vision and have dedicated their lives to nurturing independent cinema. Their collective experience and artistic integrity embody the spirit of DFI and DFF: championing original voices, creating space for bold ideas and ensuring that powerful stories find their way to audiences around the world.” The second Doha Film Festival runs November 19–27.
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