Bassam Mohammed Al-Thawadi ( ar, بسام محمد الذوادي , born December 13, 1960) is a veteran Bahraini filmmaker and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

, known for producing Bahrain's first feature film, '' The Barrier'', in 1990. Regarded as a regional pioneer in film-making, he is a founding member of the GCC Cinema Society and is also the founder and director-in-general of first Arab Cinema Festival in Bahrain. He had directed numerous short films and also commercials, educational & cultural programmes during his tenure in the

Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation (BRTC) is a public broadcaster in Bahrain with headquarters in Manama. The BRTC is owned by the government of Bahrain, and under the control of the Information Affairs Authority. History BRTC was set up i ...

as well as performing in plays. Al-Thawadi was chairman of the Al Sawari Video Festival of 1994 and a member of the judging committee of the Baghdad International Television & Film Festival in 1988. He organized the New Egyptian Cinema Days Festival in Bahrain in 1993, and was the director of the fifth Arab Music Festival in 1996.

Biography

Bassam Mohammed Al Thawadi was born in Gudaibiya in the Bahraini capital, Manama in December 1960. Bassam's father worked in nearby Saudi Arabia in the 1960s, and it was in this time that Bassam developed an interest in photography. In 1979, he studied filming at the Higher Institute of Cinema at the

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

in Cairo, Egypt and he graduated in 1982. During his study he directed a short drama film, Al Qina'a (translation: ''The Mask'') shot on 16mm and his graduation project was a short drama, Malaekat Al Ardh (translation: ''Angels of the Earth''). He joined Bahrain TV on May 4, 1985, and had produced a variety programs for the channel. He also produced programmes which were broadcast in all Arab countries which are members of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU). In 1990, he produced and directed the feature film ''The Barrier'', widely considered to be the first feature film produced in Bahrain, the film has been entered into several regional and international film festivals, generally winning good reviews. In 2004, he directed and co-produced (the other producer being the

Bahrain Cinema Company Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

) the film ''Visitor'', considered to be the second feature film produced in Bahrain and first

Dolby Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (often shortened to Dolby Labs and known simply as Dolby) is an American company specializing in audio noise reduction, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and HDR imaging. Dolby licenses its technologies to ...

sound system in the Persian Gulf. Between those two films he directed many documentary films. In 2006 he directed ''

A Bahraini Tale ''A Bahraini Tale'' () is a 2006 Bahraini Arabic-language drama film directed by Bassam Al-Thawadi Bassam Mohammed Al-Thawadi ( ar, بسام محمد الذوادي , born December 13, 1960) is a veteran Demographics of Bahrain, Bahraini filmm ...

'', the third feature film produced in Bahrain and first DTS sound system in the Persian Gulf region. The movie was critically acclaimed by local and international critics. He currently works as the head of the drama and documentary section at Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation, at Bahrain's Ministry of Information.

Filmography

* ''Haneen''

Awards

On April 10, 2012, Al-Thawadi was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 5th

Gulf Film Festival A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...

in recognition of his lifetime work in Gulf film making.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thawadi, Bassam Living people Bahraini male actors Bahraini dramatists and playwrights Bahraini film people 1960 births 21st-century male actors Bahraini male film actors