Farah ALHashim (also Farrah Zaine) is a

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

i- Lebanese filmmaker and journalist based in Paris. ALHashim has been making films since 2011 including ''7 Hours'', which won several awards at film festivals in 2013 and '' Breakfast in Beirut'' in 2015, which was honored at multiple festivals.

Early life and education

Born in Kuwait and raised between Beirut, New York, London and Los Angeles, she holds a degree in journalism from

Lebanese American University The Lebanese American University (LAU) ( ar, الجامعة اللبنانية الأميركية) is a secular and private American university located in Lebanon. It is chartered by the board of regents of the University of the State of New Y ...

and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a private for-profit film school and acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. The New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, a former film, t ...

. ALHashem grew up as a nomad between MENA region and United States. Her parents, award-winning acclaimed Kuwaiti columnist Fouad ALHashem and her honourable award-winning Lebanese journalist and writer Awatif Zain. Her parents are prominent Arab authors, journalists and thinkers, and the winner of many awards for their decades of contribution to Arab international relations scene since mid 70s.

Awards and nominations

* "Best Screenplay" at the Women Independent Film Festival Santa Monica in Los Angeles, CA for the short film "7hours" 2013 * "Best Actress" at the Women Independent Film Festival Santa Monica in Los Angeles, CA for the short film "7hours" 2013 * Official Selection on ECU world Tour at Cannes Short corner 2014 for the Film "7hours" 2014 Official Selection at International Arts Expo in Italy for the Film "7hours" 2014 * Official selection at the Cabriolet Film Festival for "7hours" 2014 Official selection at the OnceaweekFilmFestival for "7hours" 2014 "Best Short Film" at the European Independent Film Festival in Paris, France in the Arab World Section for the Short Film "7hours" 2014. * Official Preview at Metropolis Sofil Theatre for Breakfast in Beirut - (sold out) 2014 * Special Mention for Breakfast in Beirut from the Jury" section In Nour Sherif for Feature Films at Alexandria and Mediterranean Countries Film Festival, Egypt 2015 * "Special Honorable screening" at Made in. Art Gallery in Venice, Italy for Film Breakfast in Beirut 2015 * Honorable award for Breakfast in Beirut by the Ministry of Culture, Beirut 2014 * Official selection at the International Film Festival Lumiere, Rome Italy for Breakfast in Beirut 2016 * Breakfast in Beirut among the top five films representing Beirut in the movies according to LAHA Magazine 2015 * Breakfast in Beirut honorary show at Antoine University, Lebanon 2015 * Nominated "Film of the Year" Breakfast in Beirut at the Lebanese Film Festival in Sydney, Australia 2015 Breakfast in Beirut Art Festival in Venice, organized by Made in Gallery and the Municipality of Treviso as an honorable tribute to the award-winning film Breakfast in Beirut 2016 * Breakfast in Beirut official selection at CultFest in Mastre, Italy 2016 * Official selection at the Okaz Cultural Art Festival October 2016 * Official premiere in Paris at the Cinema Le Brady on April 29, 2016 (full house) * Official selection at Beirut Women Independent Film Festival 2018 BBC Arabic film of the year for the film "Ces petits riens" in 2018 * Official selection at Beirut Women Independent Film Festival for the film these little things 2019 Official selection at Beirut Women Independent Film Festival for the film "the fifth day" 2020 * Official selection for "Confined to Paris" at the Beirut DC film festival in Beirut and in collaboration with the French Institute of Lebanon, 2020 * Official selection of the film "The Fifth Day" at the Kuwait International Film Festival, 2020 Official selection at the Jerusalem International Film *Festival and winner of the Jury Prize for the film "The Fifth Day" in the Palestinian Territories 2021. *Festival and winner of the Best Film for the film "Beirut Borhan " in the Palestinian Territories 2022.

Career

In 2013, while working as a diplomatic advisor for Kuwait Mission to the UN in New York, she made her first critically acclaimed short film ''7 hours'', which toured over 31 cities around the world as part of its award as "Best Arab Short Film" at the European Film Festival in Paris, 2014 for the Arab Category. The film was awarded twice more at the Santa Monica Film Festival in California with the "Best Acting" and "Best Screenplay" awards. ALHashim has established her own film house, VioletSkye Films, in 2014 in Beirut. The company is registered in Lebanon as a production company dedicated only in creating content for web and cinema and she gives film courses remotely with CAP in Kuwait. The official Avant Premiere of ''Breakfast in Beirut'' was held in 2015 at the Metropolis Sofil Theater in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

while the official international premiere was in Paris at Le Brady Cinema in April 2016. ''Breakfast in Beirut'' received an honorary recognition by the municipality of

Treviso, Italy Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

and in collaboration with the Gallery "Made In"

Venice, Italy Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

as they decided to name their art festival “''Breakfast in Beirut'' Art Festival” in honor the film and ALHashem. She also released unedited footage, behind the scenes of the film under a web-series on YouTube entitled "Beirut Secrets" that follows the life of the filmmaker while living in Beirut. ''Breakfast in Beirut'' was banned at the Kuwait Film Festival. In 2018, ALHashim released her second feature film "Ces Petits Riens", which tours International festivals during the fall of 2017 and she also released ''Women of Kuwait''. ALHashem started her doctoral thesis at Jean Moulin University in Lyon on the films of Borhan Alaouie. She is set to shoot a documentary about Borhan Alaouie in Beirut and is set to be released in 2022. In 2022 ALHashem released award winning film "Beirut Borhan" which received the best film award in Jerusalem international film festival in Palestinian Territories. The film toured 8 countries in the Arab world and was named by ALJazeera documentary a "powerful film of 2022". ALHashem continuous to push boundaries in cinema and has created a wave of filmmakers who are copying ALHashem's style of filmmaking that is mixing fiction and documentary in a form of a personal narration.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hashem, Farah Kuwaiti film directors Living people Lebanese film directors Year of birth missing (living people) Lebanese American University alumni New York Film Academy alumni