Narrative Director/Editor:
This War on Love: (In Development)- feature length drama. Expected release 2013.
In the age of the war on terror, two Palestinian lovers must battle gender roles, refugee pasts, religious differences, a brutal Israeli war, their shattered cosmopolitan families and the East-West divide to stay in each other’s arms. From Manhattan to Beirut to Amman, they ultimately have to fight the demons of the power of love itself.
In the hot summer of 2006, does love survive in the face of war, both personal and political?
This feature script has been through the Torino Film Lab Interchange program with DIFF and is currently attached to a Canadian producer, looking for European Co-Producers. Expected to shoot Spring/Summer 2013.
Guidebook to Forgetfulness, 60 minutes, 2009.
A collection of 16 poetry videos, written, read and edited by myself, covering various topics from my first and second books of poetry. The clips include images and music accompanying the poetry reading.
Carencia, 24 P, feature length, 2005. Written, directed, produced and edited on Avid Express.
(Screened at NYU, the Lebanese American University, Metropolitan Cinema in Beirut and the Royal Film Commission in Jordan).
This is my thesis project for NYU. It revolves around the difficult choices a Palestinian female painter in NYC has to make when she gets pregnant by her American producer boyfriend during the Iraqi invasion in 2003. Set in Manhattan, the story explores identity, family ties and the notion of political activism versus artistic hedonism as well as issues of raising children in our modern world.
NewRoses, digital video, 13 minutes, 2003. Written, directed, designed and edited on Avid Express. A dark short about a paranoid housewife whose unfounded fear of her husband’s infidelity drive her to find extremely creative ways to obtain revenge…a malicious comedy with a hint of poison.
Places on the Inside, 16 mm film, B & W, 5 minutes, 2002.
In this surreal short film, I tried to capture a feeling of intimacy and love with a phantom figure invisible to the rest of the world, and to touch upon the futility of living a superficial socially accepted existence. Shot in two days, I edited this first project at NYU on Final Cut Pro.
Written on the Body, video, 14 minutes, 1999. Adapted, directed and edited a 14-minute LAU thesis film based on the novel “Written on the Body” by American poetic prose author Jeannette Winterson. The film is an exploration of the human body as a vehicle for love, sexuality and the decay of terminal cancer. I designed and edited this film on Beta A/B roll.
Documentary Director/Editor:
Journey in Migration, feature documentary, 2010. (In Post-production)
To be completed January 2012. The First Art House film to be made about the PLO, it is based on a Elias Shoufani’s story of being a PLO leader, academic writer and historian, and it explores the parallels between the failure of his personal goals as an intellectual in the Arab world and the failure of the leftist secular factions of the PLO in the 70’s to liberate Palestine. A combination of footage from the US, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, with archive, photography, animation, interviews, voice over poetic narration and high 8 family videos all combine to tell the story of a Palestinian hero from 1948 till he left the PLO in 1993. The rise and fall of hope for Palestine.
Medical Marijuana Barbie,video, 12 minutes, 2003.
A documentary on Tracy Blevins, a New York based activist who is also involved in making political statements. The video project was shot the same week the US invaded Iraq and includes footage of demonstrations that took place in Manhattan during that period. This documentary is essentially about freedom of speech, sexuality, political affiliation and expression and also pokes fun at the Bush Administration which had launched an unjust, cruel war in the name of God and democracy.
A Life the Color of Blood ,video, 12 minutes, 1998. I wrote, directed and edited this documentary exploring the relationship between patriotic music, communist ideals and Hamra Street in Beirut, where I lived for years. I interviewed prominent political singers and poets such as Ahmad Kaabour, Sami Hawatt, Marcel Khalife and Khaled El- Haber. The documentary attempts to capture the pain and difficulties surrounding leftist political parties who tried to help Palestine, especially through their passionate music.
Poetry:
“More light than death could bear”: First volume of poetry published fall 2007 by xanadu* in Beirut. The 200 page book is divided into three chapters.
"Inkstains on the Edge of Light": Second volume of poetry. Published June 2010 in Beirut by xanadu*. A 300 page volume of poetry and spoken word, divided into four chapters titled, "Death", "Life", "Home" and "Lust".
This War on Love: (In Development)- feature length drama. Expected release 2013.
In the age of the war on terror, two Palestinian lovers must battle gender roles, refugee pasts, religious differences, a brutal Israeli war, their shattered cosmopolitan families and the East-West divide to stay in each other’s arms. From Manhattan to Beirut to Amman, they ultimately have to fight the demons of the power of love itself.
In the hot summer of 2006, does love survive in the face of war, both personal and political?
This feature script has been through the Torino Film Lab Interchange program with DIFF and is currently attached to a Canadian producer, looking for European Co-Producers. Expected to shoot Spring/Summer 2013.
Guidebook to Forgetfulness, 60 minutes, 2009.
A collection of 16 poetry videos, written, read and edited by myself, covering various topics from my first and second books of poetry. The clips include images and music accompanying the poetry reading.
Carencia, 24 P, feature length, 2005. Written, directed, produced and edited on Avid Express.
(Screened at NYU, the Lebanese American University, Metropolitan Cinema in Beirut and the Royal Film Commission in Jordan).
This is my thesis project for NYU. It revolves around the difficult choices a Palestinian female painter in NYC has to make when she gets pregnant by her American producer boyfriend during the Iraqi invasion in 2003. Set in Manhattan, the story explores identity, family ties and the notion of political activism versus artistic hedonism as well as issues of raising children in our modern world.
NewRoses, digital video, 13 minutes, 2003. Written, directed, designed and edited on Avid Express. A dark short about a paranoid housewife whose unfounded fear of her husband’s infidelity drive her to find extremely creative ways to obtain revenge…a malicious comedy with a hint of poison.
Places on the Inside, 16 mm film, B & W, 5 minutes, 2002.
In this surreal short film, I tried to capture a feeling of intimacy and love with a phantom figure invisible to the rest of the world, and to touch upon the futility of living a superficial socially accepted existence. Shot in two days, I edited this first project at NYU on Final Cut Pro.
Written on the Body, video, 14 minutes, 1999. Adapted, directed and edited a 14-minute LAU thesis film based on the novel “Written on the Body” by American poetic prose author Jeannette Winterson. The film is an exploration of the human body as a vehicle for love, sexuality and the decay of terminal cancer. I designed and edited this film on Beta A/B roll.
Documentary Director/Editor:
Journey in Migration, feature documentary, 2010. (In Post-production)
To be completed January 2012. The First Art House film to be made about the PLO, it is based on a Elias Shoufani’s story of being a PLO leader, academic writer and historian, and it explores the parallels between the failure of his personal goals as an intellectual in the Arab world and the failure of the leftist secular factions of the PLO in the 70’s to liberate Palestine. A combination of footage from the US, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, with archive, photography, animation, interviews, voice over poetic narration and high 8 family videos all combine to tell the story of a Palestinian hero from 1948 till he left the PLO in 1993. The rise and fall of hope for Palestine.
Medical Marijuana Barbie,video, 12 minutes, 2003.
A documentary on Tracy Blevins, a New York based activist who is also involved in making political statements. The video project was shot the same week the US invaded Iraq and includes footage of demonstrations that took place in Manhattan during that period. This documentary is essentially about freedom of speech, sexuality, political affiliation and expression and also pokes fun at the Bush Administration which had launched an unjust, cruel war in the name of God and democracy.
A Life the Color of Blood ,video, 12 minutes, 1998. I wrote, directed and edited this documentary exploring the relationship between patriotic music, communist ideals and Hamra Street in Beirut, where I lived for years. I interviewed prominent political singers and poets such as Ahmad Kaabour, Sami Hawatt, Marcel Khalife and Khaled El- Haber. The documentary attempts to capture the pain and difficulties surrounding leftist political parties who tried to help Palestine, especially through their passionate music.
Poetry:
“More light than death could bear”: First volume of poetry published fall 2007 by xanadu* in Beirut. The 200 page book is divided into three chapters.
"Inkstains on the Edge of Light": Second volume of poetry. Published June 2010 in Beirut by xanadu*. A 300 page volume of poetry and spoken word, divided into four chapters titled, "Death", "Life", "Home" and "Lust".
