Qatar’s Katara Studios Ramps Up Production With Four Picture Slate

Pan-Arab content creation hub Katara Studios has unveiled a four-picture slate in a special event at Red Sea Film Festival as it ratchets up production.

The new line-up include biopic Sakhr devoted to late Kuwaiti tech pioneer Mohammed Al-Sharekh. It takes its title from the computer system he created, which was the world’s first Arabic language operating system.

They are also backing fantasy epic Sari & Amira, the debut film of buzzy Qatari filmmaker A.J. Al Thani, who made waves with short films The Black Veil and Kashta.

Billed as a heartwarming tale of love and resilience, it is set against the desert of Wadi Sakheema and revolves around bandits Amira and Sari. It follows their adventures as they battle mythical beasts and navigate their marital misadventures in search of seek a legendary treasure.  The cast features Alex Uloom, Hala Al Turk, Abdelmohsen Al Nemr and Adwa Fahad.

Further titles include Sa3oud Wainah, which the company said marked a new chapter for Qatari cinema as the Gulf nation’s commercial feature film.

Featuring a Qatari cast topped by Mishal Al Dosari, Abdulaziz Al Dorani and Saad Al Naimi, the mystery thriller revolves around a magic trick that goes horribly wrong when two brothers attempt to replicate it years after learning it from their father.

The fourth title is the documentary Anne Everlasting about Anne Lorimor who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro at 89-years-old to reclaim her title as the oldest person to scale the summit.

As she climbs, the film follows her past struggles and resilience as well as the mission of her foundation, Creating Exciting Futures.

The event at the Red Sea Film Festival marked Katara Studio’s first major international roadshow event.

The executive team was out in force, topped by CCO Hussein Fakhri alongside Communication Manager Salman Al-Muhannadi, Senior Content Developer and film writer Fahad Al-Kuwari, Senior Content Developer and director Mohammed Al Ibrahim, Head of Sound Liam Ruddel, Post Production Manager and film editor Maryam Al-Sahli and SVP of Film, TV & Music and executive producer Luca Bercovici.

“Katara Studios is driven by a vision to ignite pan-Arab creativity, spark cross-cultural connections, and empower diverse voices,” said Katara Studios CCO Fakhri.

“With this slate, we aim to present stories that resonate with audiences worldwide. Launching our projects at the Red Sea International Film Festival underscores our commitment to shaping the future of Arab storytelling and leaving a lasting global impact.”

Previous Katara Studios productions include sci-fi series Medinah for Starzplay; Farsi language feature film Orca; original sci-fi drama The Pact for The Roku Channel and Chasing Dreams, an inspiring sports docu-drama now showing on Shahid.

The studio also produced the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 opening and closing ceremonies and the The Lost Chapter of Kelileh wa Demneh, a live show for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Opening Ceremony.