Mohammed Ashraf Ghori (born 17 September 1973), is a

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

-based

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, filmmaker and entrepreneur. He is best known for creating UAE's first CGI science fiction film ''

Xero Error ''Xero Error'', also known as ''Levity - Xero Error Minus1'', is a computer generated science fiction film created and directed by Ashraf Ghori and starring Muhammad Ali Jamadar, Rhiannon Downie, Mouna Abbassy, Phat Mo, Nasser Chhipa, Nick Rego, ...

'' a futuristic cyborg thriller which won recognition at the 63rd

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. and as the artist behind UAE's acclaimed Arabic Graphic Novel Antara. He is the CEO and founder of digital design agency Xpanse CGI.

Early life & Professional Career

Ghori moved from Hyderabad, India to Dubai, UAE at the age of 2. His first professional work appeared in the pages of magazines published by ''

Khaleej Times ''Khaleej Times'' is a daily English language newspaper published in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Launched on 16 April 1978, ''Khaleej Times'' is the UAE's longest-running English daily newspaper. History and profile A partnership between the U ...

''. He was a regular illustrator for ''Young Times'' from 1989 until 2001. Ghori graduated from the University of Houston, Texas in 1994. Ghori was on the judges panel for the Kuwait Arab Advertising Awards for the years 2006 and 2007. In 2007, he founded digital creative agency Xpanse CGI in

and started independent film-making with

in 2008. Xero Error premiered at the 3rd Gulf Film Festival and also played at the 63rd

and the 10th edition of

Sci-Fi-London Sci-Fi-London (stylised as SCI-FI-LONDON), also known as The London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film or simply SFL, is an annual United Kingdom-based film festival dedicated to the science fiction and fantasy genres. ...

. In 2010, Ghori was the Art Director for the first Indo-Emirati film 'Malal'. He worked as Senior Digital Artist at Bayyinah TV from 2016 to 2017.

Artist

Ghori has produced work for comic book publishers including

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

and

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

San Jacinto College San Jacinto College is a public community college in the Greater Houston with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Channelview, De ...

in Pasadena Texas had organized a Comic Art Exhibit of Ghori's works in 1993. In 1994, Ghori was a founding member of Tempest Comics in Houston, Texas, and produced a 4-issue mini series 'Tempest Comics Presents'. He was a featured comic artist at

Dallas Fantasy Fair The Dallas Fantasy Fair was an annual multi-genre fan convention held between 1982 and 1995 in Dallas, Texas. From 1989 until the show's demise in 1996, it was the home of the Harvey Award ceremonies. During its heyday, the show was one of the la ...

, 1994 (Dallas, Texas). In April 2012, Ghori was a featured guest, along with

Alvin Lee (comics) Alvin Lee is a Canadian comic book artist known for his manga-styled art. Lee is the co-creator, along with writer Gail Simone of the character Agent X. Lee has worked under major comic book publishers including Image Comics under the UDON lab ...

, Lee Townsend &

Yishan Li Yishan Li (born 1981) is a Chinese-British comics and manhua illustrator. She is self-taught. Li has worked on popular comic book titles such as ''Hellboy'', ''Batwoman'', and ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. She describes her own comics as "'girly ...

at the first

MEFCC The Middle East Film and Comic Con (commonly referred to as MEFCC) is a speculative fiction convention held annually in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in the month of April. The MEFCC showcases comic books and film/television, and other pop cultu ...

- Middle East Film and Comic Con in Dubai, UAE, and at the Middle East's inaugural

IGN Convention IGN Convention (IGN Con) is a video games, movies, comics and pop culture convention held in various cities in the Middle East. The event generally includes celebrities, video game tournaments, table top games, card games, movie previews, comic ...

in July 2013. In 2013 Ghori was a contributing artist for Dark Horse Comics in collaboration with writer

Alex De Campi Alex de Campi is a British-American music video director, comics writer and columnist. Career Comics Alex de Campi wrote 2005's mini-series ''Smoke'' (published by IDW Publishing, art by Igor Kordey), which was nominated for the Eisner Award ...

. In 2015 Ghori collaborated with renowned Arab rapper

Narcy_(rapper) Yassin Alsalman, better known by his stage name Narcy (formerly The Narcicyst), is an Iraqi-Canadian rapper, author, university instructor and actor. He currently resides in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Biography Alsalman's parents are originally fr ...

to create a groundbreaking mixed-media project called World War Free Now which combined music, video, and comics together. A limited edition comic was released as a companion piece to Narcy's album. In 2018 his work on Arabic graphic novel 'Antara' received critical acclaim as 'An Experiment Worthy of Praise' citing 'the versatility and sheer genius of the artist'.

Social Media Influencer

Ghori is ranked as a prominent social media influencer in the UAE. From 2011 to 2014, Ghori was the featured art influencer for Samsung's Note series. In April 2014 Ghori was the social media ambassador for

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Middle East's 'Stand Out' campaign for the

MENA MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

region and again in 2015 to promote The

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

2016 in the #ExperienceFord Social Media Campaign. In April 2016, he was the face of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

's #DoGreatThingsDXB Campaign to promote

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...

and launch

Microsoft Surface Microsoft Surface is a series of touchscreen-based personal computers, tablets and interactive whiteboards designed and developed by Microsoft, running the Microsoft Windows operating system, apart from the Surface Duo, which runs on Android ...

Pro 4 in the Gulf. He is a frequent speaker at events related to design, film and entrepreneurship in the UAE.

Awards

* World Economic Forum – Excellence Award, 2015 * Digital Studio Awards – Best up and coming filmmaker, 2011 * Made in UAE Awards – Distinguished Achievement Award, 2011 Ghori at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival

Filmography

*2023 ''Baab'' (Feature Film) - Concept Artist, Creature Designer *2022 ''Desert Warrior'' (Feature Film) - Concept Artist *2012 ''Djinn'' (Feature Film) - Concept Artist *2010 ''Levity – Xero Error Minus1'' (08:00, Digital Animated Film) - Writer, Director, Producer *2010 ''Malal'' (Short Film) – Art Director, Associate Producer (Xpanse CGI) *2009 ''City of Life'' (Feature Film) – Graphic Designer *2006 ''Arabana'' (Short Film) – Associate Producer

References

External links

*
Xpanse CGI website
*
FOBcity comics site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghori, Ashraf Indian film directors Living people Indian emigrants to the United Arab Emirates People from Dubai 1973 births Indian comics artists Social media influencers Emirati philanthropists Indian_expatriates_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates 21st-century Indian male artists Emirati artists Emirati film directors