"Dari Qatar" is the brainchild of the Doha Film Institute (DFI) and the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA). It is a documentary that is being created by both organizations to showcase Qatar and is based solely on Qatar's residents. When we say solely, we mean that "Dari Qatar" will not only be about Qatar's culture, history and people, it will also be filmed by Qatar's residents, aka all of you!

With the deadline for video submissions drawing closer, you can choose to capture your videos in the style of different themes. Some of the themes "Dari Qatar" has given video snippets of are "adventure", "family", and "friendship".

For example you can take videos of things that emanate "tradition" around Doha, another theme from "Dari Qatar", such as shown in the video above of a child pearl-diving. If you’re non-Qatari, perhaps you can partake in some local or traditional activities, such as sitting around a majlis and talking, hanging out with Qatari friends, having gahwa (Arabic tea), dune-bashing, eating local foods, or you can even visit some landmarks around Doha that truly capture the essence of tradition - old neighborhoods that have been around for decades, museums, the corniche, etc.

For local Qataris, you can show how you bridge the cultural gap by including expats in your videos and partaking in activities with them too! It will only show how diverse, and how much of a community, Qatar is.

"Dari Qatar" aims to uniquely show off Qatar's rich culture and amazing diversity when it comes to its people - both Qataris and expats alike! If you love taking videos, this is definitely something you should be a part of!

The videos don't have to be professionally shot on DSLR cameras, phone quality videos will do as well. It's kind of like when Snapchat asks people to submit their own pictures and videos for the overall Snapchat story of a country, or if a big event, festival, or holiday takes place.

The only requirements when it comes to capturing your videos is that it must be done in landscape form, so horizontally, not vertically, the videos must be unedited and they must capture other people. You can send as many videos as you like and they can be as long or as short as you want.

You can submit your videos from your phone or your computer to the DFI website. You can create an account on the site or login with Facebook and submit your videos once you've done so. Make sure to read the terms of use before you create an account!

Submissions are being accepted until September 29, 2016, so make sure to get your videos in! Here's where you can sign up: https://dariqatar.submit.dohafilminstitute.com/submit/50177

Again, everyone is invited to share their videos, no matter who you are, where you're from, or what you do (this turned into a Backstreet Boys song really quick).

As stated by DFI, "'Dari Qatar' is the story of Qatar, told by all of us."

Have you submitted any videos? What themes did you follow? Comment below!

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AngelPolacco

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