Kais al-Zubaidi (; 1939 – 1 December 2024), also spelled Qais Al-Zubaidi or Kays Al Zbaide, was an Iraqi-born director, writer and researcher in

film theory Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for und ...

and montage. In the 1960s, he studied both montage and photography at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Germany. Then he proceeded to work as a director,

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

, and

scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; from Italian , "that which is pinned to the scenery") is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and actio ...

writer. He directed a number of documentary and

narrative film Narrative film, fictional film or fiction film is a motion picture that tells a fictional or fictionalized story, event or narrative. Commercial narrative films with running times of over an hour are often referred to as feature films, or featur ...

s about

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, some of which won

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and international awards. He was best known for his films '' The Visit'' (1970), ''Al-yazerli'', ''The Adventure'' (both 1974), and ''Al-lail'' (1992).

Life and career

Al-Zubaidi graduated from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Germany with a diploma in Montage (1964) and in Photography (1969). Then he proceeded to work at the DIVA Studio for Documentary Films and at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Germany in montage, photography and directing. Al-Zubaidi has organized several cinematic courses in

, directing, and editing in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

and at the Radio and TV Training Center, Union of Arab Broadcasters in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, Al-Manar TV Training Center in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

in Damascus, and The Royal Jordanian Commission in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

. He also founded the "Palestinian National Film Archive" in cooperation with the Federal Archives in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. Al-Zubaidi directed a set of documentaries at the General Cinema Foundation in Damascus and in the Department of Culture and Information in Lebanon and in Germany. Some of his films have actually won Arab and international awards. He also directed some

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

s, including "The Visit" in 1970 and "Al-Yazerli" in 1974, which suffered censorship wherever it was screened. In 1995, critic Mohsen Wafi published a book titled "A Lover from Palestine" about al-Zubaidi and his films. Further, in 2019, Syrian director Muhammad Malas published a biography titled "Qais Al-Zubaidi Life as Scraps on the Wall". Al-Zubaidi died on 1 December 2024, at the age of 85.

Works

Films

* ''Far from the Homeland'', 1969 * ''Men Under the Sun'', 1970 * '' The Visit'', 1970 * ''The Knife'', 1972 * ''The Mexican Hoax'', 1972 * ''Testimonies of Palestinian Children in Wartime'', 1972 * ''Love's Other Face'', 1973 * ''The Adventure'', 1974 * ''Al Yazerli'', 1974 * ''Al-lail'', 1992

Books

* ''The Structure of a TV Drama Series: Towards a New Dramatic'', Qudamus Publishing House, 2001 * ''The Dramatic of Change: Bertolt Brecht,'' Canaan House, 2004 * ''The Visual and Audible in Cinema,'' Damascus: The General Film Organization, 2006 * ''Palestine in Cinema'', Institute for Palestine Studies, 2006 * ''The Literary Medium in Cinema'', Abu Dhabi: Festival: Films from the Emirates, 2007 * ''Monographs in Film’s Image, Theory, and History,'' Damascus: The General Film Organization, 2010 * ''In Film Culture – Monographies'', Cairo: The General Authority for Cultural Palaces, 2013 * ''Documentary Film: Reality Without Banks'', Palestinian Ministry of Culture, 2017 * ''Studies in the Structure of the Film Medium'', Sharjah: Department of Culture, 2018

References

External links