How did this all get started?
The Doha Film Institute (DFI) started two years ago, and it developed really organically. I come from the field of filmmaking, I’m a filmmaker myself, but I wanted to study and understand, what are the needs of the local population here? What are they expecting from me and DFI? This year we have a very organised programme of more than 25 workshops, where people start at a certain level and they need to do certain courses and workshops in order to go to a higher level. Last year we had 160 students, and this year we’re expecting 300, but it’s never about this. It’s about our role as educators and what the students take from it, and not only in terms of education and information, it’s more about empowering those people; giving them a sense and feeling that there is a safe environment that allows them to create. I think there is a perception that filmmaking is just for certain types of people, but it’s not, it’s for everybody.

Why do something like that here?
Because there’s a hunger for it. And because we think it’s a beautiful way of self-expression. And we’re here just to provide those tools to others, so they can express themselves and do whatever they want with this amazing media called filmmaking. But then it’s not only about teaching people who want to make films; it’s also about giving a taste for anybody who wants to take filmmaking as a hobby. I read a statistic before that said 99.5 per cent of people want to be filmmakers and never get to be, but they can still enjoy it. Everybody can make films – and everybody can express themselves through film.

How do you choose who makes it into your workshops?
We have a filtering process. When people apply, they don’t just give their names, they have to pitch a story. And we have a board of education team that reads all the pitches, and they meet and they decide, and it’s only based on the story. And of course it’s a personal taste of the people in education, but this is how it works all over the world. So it’s a matter of luck who gets accepted.

Your film Ajami got nominated for an Oscar.
Yes, but I didn’t go as I don’t really like Hollywood films – The King’s Speech, Black Swan – I was there for four minutes, and whenever they said you can leave, I left. We were smoking cigarettes and asking where can we get food, and they made us pay for the bubbly. I’m not a big fan of Hollywood. It smells plastic, it smells fake. The statues, they are made from plastic. I don’t know, I guess that’s just my opinion of it all.

So what gives a film its value, then?
Well, it depends on what is your idea of filmmaking. I can tell you about Ajami, when I did my first screenings. After the film was released, you see that 200,000 people in Israel went to see it, it’s a Palestinian film speaking in Arabic, humanising the characters of the film, watching them and crying with them and laughing with them, for me that was the biggest success. It’s changing reality. It has 200,000 Israelis sitting there and loving Palestinian characters, laughing with them, following their stories. The awards and reviews, I don’t care about.

The opening film for this year’s Doha Tribeca Film Festival, Black Gold, was shot in Qatar. Are more films going to be made here?
I surely hope so. The scenery is beautiful. If you need deserts and dunes and beautiful clean water, it’s the perfect place. I cannot announce, but I know already of two other projects that might be shot here in Qatar. I cannot tell you which ones. Watch this space.
For more info, see www.dohafilminstitute.com.