Mahmoud Sabbagh, or Mah Sabbagh (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

: مَحْمُود صباغ; born March 1983) is a

Saudi Saudi may refer to: * Saudi Arabia * Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia * Saudi culture, the culture of Saudi Arabia * House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is c ...

film director, producer, and screenwriter. Sabbagh has been a major pioneer of independent cinema in Saudi Arabia since 2013. His debut feature, titled ''

Barakah Meets Barakah ''Barakah Meets Barakah'' ( ar, بركة يقابل بركة Hejazi pronunciation: ) is a 2016 Saudi Arabian drama-comedy film directed and written by Mahmoud Sabbagh, a remarkably candid Saudi Arabian love story which uses humor as a counterwe ...

'', premiered at

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

in 2016; becoming the first feature film from Saudi Arabia to screen in the festival. His debut film was also selected as the entry of Saudi Arabia for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards. In 2015, Sabbagh founded Elhoush Productions, the first independent feature film production company, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Sabbagh opened the first official art house cinema in Jeddah in 2019.

Cinema Elhoush Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

opened with the screening of Stanley Kubrick's groundbreaking epic 2001: A Space Odyssey. It resumed its program in Winter 2022 at Alula, with a collection of recent and classic films

premiered a retrospective of Wong Kar-Wai screening five of his top films in 4k format for the first time in Saudi Arabia. Sabbagh was named on the jury for the Best First Feature Award at the

67th Berlin International Film Festival The 67th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 18 February 2017 with Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven as President of the Jury. '' Django'', directed by Etienne Comar, opened the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to th ...

. Sabbagh is also known locally by the documentary ''The Story of

Hamza Shehata Hamza Shehata (1910/11-1971/72) was a philosopher, poet and civic leader from the Hejaz in the western part of modern Saudi Arabia. The eccentric Hejazi genius was born in Mecca and raised in Jeddah.Biographical details in ''The Literature of Modern ...

'' (2013). Sabbagh also created/directed the provocative TV/web drama series ''Cash'' (2014); a 10-episodes drama series shot in cinema style. Sabbagh holds a master's degree of science from

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

where he studied storytelling filmmaking. In October 2017, it was announced that Sabbagh is working on his second feature, titled: ''

Amra and The Second Marriage Amra is the name of certain ancient Irish elegies or panegyrics on native saints. The best known is ''Amra Coluimb Chille'' (the song of Columbkille). ''Amra Coluim Chille'' According to the traditional account the ''Amra Coluim Chille'' was com ...

''. The film was shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and premiered in London BFI festival in 2018. In March 2019, Sabbagh was announced the Festival Director of Saudi Arabia's first international film festival, The Red Sea Film Festival.

Filmography

* ''Barakah Meets Barakah'' (2016). Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at

.Berlinale 2016, The Awards Report
2016 * ''Amra, and The Second Marriage'' (2018). * ''

Glitch Love A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among ...

'' (2022).

External links

*
Mah Sabbagh's blog

References

Saudi Arabian film directors Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni 1983 births Living people {{SaudiArabia-bio-stub

Filmography

Further reading

External links

References