In this inspiring episode of The Ajyal Show, Kazakh documentary filmmaker Alina Mustafina reflects on honesty as the heart of her craft, and on choosing the path that feels true to oneself. Trading certainty for the freedom to make her own work turned out to be the decision that shaped everything after it. Journalism, film education and fiction each gave her something, and each brought her nearer to documentary, the form she recognised as closest to her voice. 

A turning point came at Doha Film Institute's documentary lab, where she worked under the mentorship of filmmaker Rithy Panh. He challenged her to look beyond the first idea and search for what lay beneath it, an experience that changed not just her technique but the depth at which she understood her own stories. Her short ‘Ander’ appeared to be about a child living with a severe dairy allergy; by looking deeper, it became a story about identity, culture, and belonging to a tradition you cannot fully take part in.

Alina speaks with heartfelt openness about turning the camera towards her own family. She learned to hold a careful distance between the person experiencing the moment and the director shaping the film, without pretending the emotional cost had disappeared. And she discovered that the camera can make honesty possible, creating the conditions for her family to say what everyday life had left unsaid.

Her current film began from the need to record grief rather than a finished structure, proof that some films begin with a question and find their meaning through the act of making them.

To learn more about Doha Film Institute's initiatives, workshops and funding that help support Qatar’s creative community, visit our website here.