In this reflective episode of The Ajyal Show, Tunisian producer and filmmaker Fatma Riahi traces a documentary journey that did not begin with a deliberate choice, but with a turn of circumstance. Through fiction, Tunisia and one workshop in Doha, she found herself drawn towards a form that keeps changing shape, much like the realities it follows.

Fatma’s first real encounter with documentary arrived during the Tunisian revolution, when a rough television film became something more immediate. A way to both witness and capture history while it was still being written. Since joining Al Jazeera Documentary, she has watched the Arab documentary scene develop from humble beginnings into a thriving creative culture, not from a distance, but through the projects and people that she has encountered.

For Fatma, filmmaking is never just reportage. News may show the event, but a creative documentary asks what the event leaves behind in those experiencing it first-hand. Her attention often turns to ordinary people, whose individual lives can carry larger truths. In their stories, facts find feelings, and reality reveals its own edit, refusing to follow even the most careful plan.

She also speaks with clarity about the responsibility of filming someone else’s life, and the unequal doors a film can open. As a mother and industry professional, Fatma reflects on the price of staying in the field, and on choosing between family and filmmaking.

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