Vision
To make our festival an invitation…. to introduce different cultures from all over the world, foster better relationships through an exchange of experiences and knowledge thus creating a foundation of respect and understanding.

Target
We seek to become a place where filmmakers from different countries and cultures meet to create a unique platform that celebrates creative talent and encourages a cultural interest in documentary films.

Aljazeera Festival was formally inaugurated on April 18th, 2005 by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Aljazeera Network” Sheikh Hamad Bin Thamir Al-Thani.

In its first year, the work of 14 Arab countries was included under the theme “Social Programs and News”. Gold, silver and bronze awards were presented to winners from each category. To encourage student filmmakers, a new category called “New Horizon” was launched which has now become a festival trademark. This trend-setting category has proved to be highly successful and has now become a unique creative platform. From the 2nd edition of the festival, countries from all over the world have been enthusiastically participating. The word “International” was added to the title of the festival.

From the 3rd edition onwards, the festival is titled as “Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival.” Films were categorized as short, medium and long. Separate categories “New Horizon Competition” and “Jury Award Category” were included as well.

Starting from the 4th edition, special awards are given by sponsors to promote important public issues such as family and children issue, the Palestinian cause, Freedom and Human Rights issue.

Since the 6th edition, which witnessed an increase in the number of participating films, the festival organizes public broadcasts of films in open places to encourage more people to watch documentary films in addition to the films already being screened at the festival venue i.e. The Sheraton Hotel, Doha.

The 7th edition paid tribute to all those who believe in “Dialogue” and took into account the recent upheavals taking place in the Arab nations.

The festival thus continues its purpose of “Unity in Diversity”; discussing the challenges the world faces and ways to overcome them through various discussions and symposiums. It constantly endeavors to promote creative talent from all over the world and in this way, leave behind a unique stamp of originality and professionalism.