ABOUT / RIYADH, KSA
ALI ABULHASSAN
Director & filmmaker
I’m Ali Abulhassan, a director and filmmaker based in Riyadh.
I’m interested in the person behind the artwork: their experience, the place that shaped them, and the details that make their story their own. I find stories in Saudi culture and art that deserve a closer look. I want to bring them to a wider audience while preserving the voices and identities of the people who tell them.
I look for a visual approach that grows from each story. I enjoy developing the idea and shaping the space, light and rhythm of the image, then bringing these elements together to draw the viewer closer. I directed Masafa, broadcast on Al Thaqafiya and Shahid, and developed Shams, leading its direction and visual identity.
BROADCAST ON
Highfive
Years behind the camera
Cultural episodes
Brands & clients
Disciplines
My perspective and the work I want to make
I want to share my own understanding of the place I have lived in, telling stories I have experienced and witnessed through my view of its people, culture and everyday life. I care about the message and feeling an image carries: how it expresses what I have seen and been moved by, and lets a viewer see a place through my eyes. My interest in Saudi culture and art comes from this relationship with the place and my experience within it. I want to keep developing my visual language, using filmmaking tools and new technologies to expand the stories I can tell.
RECOGNITION
Recognition & participation
Misk Art Institute — Documentary Photography & Storytelling (with Gulf Photo Plus, Riyadh)
Misk Art Institute — Visual Storytelling (with Photopia, Misk Art Week)
National Day 90 exhibition — Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts × SOURA
1st place, “Tajseed” competition — Photography Committee, SASCA Madinah (World Theatre Day)
Awards, participation & professional development