Mohamad Malas

Born in 1945 in the town of Quneitra in the Golan, Mohamad Malas represents, like no other, the Syrian auteur Cinema. He grew up under the impression of many wars and conflicts in the region, something that was to play a central role in his later work. After having worked for three years as a teacher in Damascus while studying at the Faculty of Philosophy, Malas received a scholarship to study filmmaking at the renowned Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). After his graduation in 1974, he returned to Syria where he gained a name as a critical and socially engaged filmmaker. He received wide international acclaim for his feature and documentary films and won a number of awards at film festivals around the world. Among his most important films are Dreams of the City (1983), The Night (1992) and Passion (2005). The films of Mohammad Malas have been termed “visual poetry” by a number of critics and artists and the themes of personal freedom and oppression play a major role in his work.