Koutaiba Al Janabi

Koutaiba Al-Janabi is a British-based Iraqi filmmaker, director and photographer born in Baghdad, who documented Wasteland: Between London and Baghdad and the 2010 award-winning film, Leaving Baghdad.

Koutaiba Al-Janabi (Member of the Hungarian Society of Cinematographers,HSC) is a UK-based Iraqi film director and cinematographer, scriptwriter.

Koutaiba was born in Baghdad, he studied in Budapest, Hungary first photo journalism (http://www.kezmuves-prateru.sulinet.hu) with his diploma project about the Palestinian refugee camps in the Lebanon. He then attended the Budapest Academy of Drama and Cinema (http://www.budapestfilmacademy.com/index.php?lang=en), qualifying as a cinematographer. He studied under Lajos Koltai Oscar-winning cinematographer (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005759/) and the “Hungarian style” of lighting and composition influenced his work significantly. He worked in the Hungarian film and television industry and also completed a PhD on the aesthetics and history of Arabic cinema at ELTE University (http://www.elte.hu/) before relocating to London. Koutaiba worked as a cinematographer on various films, produced and directed programmes for MBC (http://www.mbc.net/ar.html) and produced/directed his own short films and documentaries, eventually moving into scriptwriting and directing feature films. The first feature film Koutaiba wrote/directed/produced was "Leaving Bagdhad" (2011, www.leavingbaghdadfilm.com). Independently produced, the film was well received and won several awards, prizes and is being shown at various festivals and screenings - Raindance, the British Film Institute, the Gulf Film Festival, festivals in Ghent, Monaco, Sweden, Thailand, Fiji, Spain, Germany, Iran etc. selected "Leaving Baghdad" for their programmes.

The main themes in Al-Janabi’s work, both in film and in photography are displacement, alienation, exile.

Feature project in pre-production: "The Window" (teaser trailer shot in Baghdad, available on Vimeo)

Al-Janabi’s early films are published as a DVD under the title "Stories of Passers Through" His photographic work is widely published and exhibited (Foto Magazin Hungary, British Journal of Photography, Black and White magazine, Various Middle Eastern publications) and he also produced two collections of his photographic work in his books "Far from Baghdad" and “Foreign Light”

Filmography FEATURE FILMS Leaving Baghdad Feature film (2010) Director/Writer - BIFA winner, Cinema for Peace nominee, Gulf Film Festival prize winner, Monaco Film Festival prize winner etc. (http://celinejulie.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_01_archive.html) http://www.bifa.org.uk/winners/2011

SHORT FILM AND DOCUMENTARIES • Wasteland: Between London and Baghdad • Still Life • The Train • The Ever Restless Man (http://www.iraqitradeunions.org/archives/2004_06.html) • Against the Light • No Man's Land • Baghdadi Correspondent • Seven Days with Gypsies

DoP ON FEATURE FILMS

Jiyan (http://jbspins.blogspot.co.uk/2009_10_01_archive.html) Emotional Backgammon Winter of Love The English Sheikh and the Yemeni Gentleman Jack of Diamonds

Awards • Best Cinematography Award of the XVII Hungarian Festival of Commercials • Best Cinematography Award of the Independent Arabic Film Festival in 1999 • Raindance award at the British Independent Film Awards (http://www.bifa.org.uk/winners/2011, http://www.independentfilmtrust.org/training) • First Prize at the Gulf Film Festival (http://gulffilmfest.com/index.php/en/past-edition/year-2011/films/#pg-1_g-none_l-none_co-none_ci-none_se-none_sec-none) (http://www.sbs.com.au/documentary/blogs/view/id/123376/t/Gulf-Film-Festival-Report-3) • Special Prize at the Monaco Charity Film Festival (http://www.monacofilmfestival.de/95-0-WORLD-CINEMA--FEATURE-MOVIES.html)

References 1. ^ "Koutaba Al-Janabi". Koutaiba Al-Janabi official website. Archived from the original on 2005-12-18. 2. ^ Mania, Astrid. "Berlin: “Contemporary Arab Representations”". Art and Asia Pacific 49: 88.

• Leaving Baghdad Feature film (2010) Director/Writer - BIFA winner, Cinema for Peace nominee, Gulf Film Festival prize winner, Monaco Film Festival prize winner etc.
• Wasteland: Between London and Baghdad (1998)
• An English Sheikh and a Yemeni Gentleman Yemen (2000)
• Jiyan (2002) Cinematographer.
• Still Life short
• The Train short
• The Ever Restless man portrait film
• Against the Light portrait film
• No Man's Land short
• Baghdadi Correspondent doc.

Future Works

The Hubert Bals Fund has supported the development of Koutaiba's next feature project, "Night Trains".

Another feature project, "Window" is also in development.

- Raindance award at the British Independent Film Awards The 2010 release of Leaving Baghdad marked the beginning of a string of awards in recognition of Koutaiba Al-Janabi. Most impressively his film received the coveted Raindance Award at the 14th British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs)

- Best Cinematography Award of the XVII Hungarian Festival of Commercials - Best Cinematography Award of the Independent Arabic Film Festival in 1999 - First Prize at the Gulf Film Festival (http://gulffilmfest.com/index.php/en/past-edition/year-2011/films/#pg-1_g-none_l-none_co-none_ci-none_se-none_sec-none) (http://www.sbs.com.au/documentary/blogs/view/id/123376/t/Gulf-Film-Festival-Report-3)

- Special Prize at the Monaco Charity Film Festival (http://www.monacofilmfestival.de/95-0-WORLD-CINEMA--FEATURE-MOVIES.html)