Palestinian rapper Saint Levant to headline Doha Film Festival's music programme

Nine-day event will focus on Palestine, opening with award-winning drama The Voice of Hind Rajab

Palestinian rapper Saint Levant performs at Lollapalooza Paris Festival in July 2025. Getty Images

Saint Levant will headline the music programme of this year's Doha Film Festival. While a specific date has not been revealed for his performance, the nine-day event will open with the award-winning film The Voice of Hind Rajab on November 20.

Saint Levant, whose real name is Marwan Abdelhamid, has become one of the most compelling voices in global music. Born in Jerusalem to a Palestinian-Serbian father and an Algerian-French mother, his multilingual fusion of Arabic, English and French lyrics – blending rap, RnB and Middle Eastern traditions – has earned him fans worldwide and culminated in a performance at Coachella last year.

In 2024, Saint Levant released his debut album, Deira, to wide acclaim. It was named after his family's hotel in Gaza, which was destroyed by Israeli bombing in January last year. The eight-track album was a follow-up to his 2023 EP, From Gaza, With Love, whose single Very Few Friends went viral in 2022.

“Welcoming Saint Levant as a headline act is especially meaningful, as his music embodies the spirit of our mission to foster cultural dialogue through genuine connection,” said Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, festival director and chief executive of Doha Film Institute. “By uniting emerging and established artists from the region and beyond, we affirm our belief that creativity in all its forms can connect us all, regardless of background or geography.”

Alremaihi said earlier that this year's event will amplify Palestinian voices, with the screening of films such as With Hasan in Gaza by Kamal Aljafari, Once Upon a Time in Gaza by Arab and Tarzan Nasser and Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36.

The Voice of Hind Rajab received a record-breaking standing ovation in Venice. Photo: Mime Films & Tanit Films

Opening film, The Voice of Hind Rajab, directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, dramatises the final hours of a five-year-old Palestinian child, Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli fire in January 2024. The film won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize earlier this month at the Venice Film Festival, where it also received a record 23-minute, 50-second standing ovation after having its world premiere.

Doha Film Festival's music programming will have three strands, Alremaihi said, themed Roots, Headliners and Scoring. While Roots will spotlight emerging regional artists, Headliners will feature acclaimed regional and international artists. Meanwhile, Scoring will explore the intersection of film and music, and feature live performances that bring film scores to life.

More artists will be announced in the coming days.

Doha Film Festival will be held across the Qatari capital at locations including Katara Cultural Village, Msheireb Downtown Doha and the Museum of Islamic Art. It will run from November 20 to 28.