Ammar Al-Beik (Syria)

Ammar el-Beik was born in Damascus. His first video, Boulevard al-Assad was produced in 2001, as the outcome of a workshop titled Transit Visa organized in Beirut. He made a number of short films, including Uthuni Tastate An Tasma (My Ear Can See, 2001), Inahum Kanu Huna (They Were Here, 2001), Indama Ulawwen Samakati (When I Color My Fish, 2002) co-directed with Hanadi el-Omari. In 2002 he also directed his first long film, an experimental documentary titled Clakette (Clapper). El-Beik has also worked as a cinematographer and editor on a number of documentaries and fiction features, including Lebanese filmmaker Mahmoud Hojeij's The Silent Majority in 2002. El-Beik's short filmography has earned him a few awards, to name two, They Were Here received the Jury Prize at the Ismai‘liya International Festival (Egypt) in 2001 and When I Color My Fish received the Jury Prize at the Brisbane International Film Festival (Australia) in 2002.