Doha Film Institute CEO Fatma Al Remaihi has confirmed plans for a new film festival to be launched in the Qatari capital in November 2025, details of which will be unveiled in Cannes.

News that the Dfi was planning a new film event surfaced last November during its Ajyal Film Festival dedicated to youth and family-friendly cinema. Al Remaihi mentioned it during Ajyal’s opening ceremony but she never spoke about it since then.

The new Dfi event will take place during Ajyal’s customary November slot and will be an evolution of Ajyal.

November is a busy time on the Arab film festival circuit between Egypt’s El Gouna in October, Marrakech in late November and Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in December.

“We are very excited about the upcoming edition,” Al Remaihi told Variety. “We will have new programming elements in the festival, both for the industry and the filmmakers,...