Ammar Al-Beik
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Ammar Al-Beik | |
|---|---|
| عمّار البيك | |
| Born | December 17, 1972 |
| Known for | Filmmaking, |
| Website | www.ammaralbeik.io |
Ammar al-Beik (born on December 17, 1972), is a Syrian filmmaker.[1]
Al-Beik was born and grew up in Damascus, Syria, from where he has been exiled since 2011.[1][2]
Al-Beik's artistic career stems from unconventional roots. His love for photography intensified after leaving the University of Damascus where he was pursuing a degree in business administration in order to work at a camera repair shop for ten years during the 1990s. It is there where he received his formal training in the medium, exploring various methods and approaches while becoming an expert in photographic equipment. He has been exhibiting his photographs since the mid-1990s, at a time when he simultaneously began an impressive career in filmmaking. Taking his cinematic works to the international stage, he has earned critical acclaim from audiences and juries across the globe and has been honored with a number of distinctions and awards.
His choice for cinema was a choice of life, a choice of rebellion through the reality of its political, social and artistic means. al-Beik's early cinematic works, such as “Light Harvest” (1997) and “They Were Here” (2000), provide evidence of his strong foundation in photography, as nearly each scene results in the perfect still, acting fundamentally as a sequence of images.
Having participated in screenings worldwide since 1999, his films have been featured at such events as the Venice, Rotterdam, São Paulo, Oberhausen, Locarno, Nantes and Yamagata International Film Festivals.
His invitation to the 63rd Annual Venice Film Festival - Official Selection (2006), was a first in the history of Syrian cinema, where he received the Provincia Autonoma di Trento Doc/It- Award for his film “I Am the One Who Brings Flowers to Her Grave”. Since then, this film has been touring the world to be screened in the most prestigious film festivals and events including Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, the MoMA and the Centre Pompidou.
Among other awards, al-Beik won The Liege Mayor Award at the 7th Liege International Video Film Festival for his film ‘Light Harvest' (2000) in Belgium, as well as the Jury Prize in the 11th Brisbane International Film Festival for 'When I Color My Fish' [3](2002) in Australia, and a special reward from the International Federation for Cinema Club "FICC" for his "They were Here’(2002) in Italy.
In just a little over a decade al-Beik has become one of the region's leading filmmakers.
Equally accomplished in both genres, his photographs have been shown in venues throughout the Middle East, Europe and the US. Since joining Ayyam gallery [4] in 2007, al-Beik has participated in solo and group exhibitions, as well as in many international art fairs.
As a result of his artistic range and background, al-Beik's photographs possess a cinematic quality. Forever embracing experimentation, he works with an assortment of techniques. Often materializing in the form of large ultra-chrome prints, his photographs toy with the manipulation of light and contrast and delve into the art of visual storytelling, holding the narrative of his subjects up with careful scrutiny and heightened sensitivity.[5]
He was a participant in the Syrian cultural caravan (2014–5).