Khalil Benkirane graduated from studies in film at San Francisco State University in 1995. He was Artistic Director and then Executive Director of the Arab Film Festival, Cinemayaat, in San Francisco from 1998 to 2002. He then moved to Morocco, where he directed and produced his first feature-length documentary, The White Thread. He is a founding member of the Cinemathèque de Tanger. In 2008, Benkirane relocated to Qatar, where he produced documentary and narrative films for Al Jazeera Children’s Channel. In early 2011 he joined the Doha Film Institute, where he heads the Grants Programme. In 2023, he co-directed and produced Backstage, which had its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.