Ayoub Qanir
Ayoub Qanir | |
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| Born | 1983 (age 40–41) |
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| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
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| Genre |
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| Notable awards | Knight of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite Awarded by The King of Morocco |
| Years active | 2001–present |
Ayoub Qanir is an American film writer and director best known for his award winning film Artificio Conceal [1][2][3][4][5] starring late renown actor David Bailie [6] of the Pirates of the Caribbean (film series) [7] and Game of Thrones's Simon Armstrong. [8][9] His debut feature film, The World of Which We Dream Doesn't Exist, set in Mongolia, premiered at the 25th International Film Festival of Kerala where it was nominated to the Golden Crow Pheasant Award for best of film in Asia. [10] [11][12][13]
Early Life and Education
Qanir grew up in Miami, Florida, where he attended and graduated from the University of Miami with a double major in management and finance, in 2005 [14]. Shortly after, he obtained an additional degree in graphic design and art direction. In 2007, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a degree in film direction and production at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. In 2015, he was one of the juries of the 32nd edition of The Miami International Film Festival[15].
Career
In 2008, Ayoub produced and directed music videos and short documentaries for several indie rock bands. In 2009, he began his foray into fiction, writing a series of comic books in collaboration with Marvel artist Juan Doe. One of his graphic novels, Koyakatsi, was developed and produced into a proof-of-concept trailer[16][17].
In 2014, Ayoub wrote and directed Artificio Conceal which was set in London and starring renown late actor David Bailie and Games of Thrones's Simon Armstrong. The short was selected to over 50 film festivals worldwide including Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Corner, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival.[18][19][20] In 2015, he was made one of the juries at the 32nd edition of The Miami International Film Festival.
In November 2015, Qanir became a Knight of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite awarded by the King of Morocco, for his contribution as artist and filmmaker.[21]
In 2017, Qanir went on to write and direct his first feature film, The World of Which We Dream Doesn't Exist set in Mongolia. The film was fully cast by non-actors and followed the journey of real-life shaman, Erdenesaikhan Purevdorj, from the Khuvsgul valley as he attempts to recover his grandson's soul from the spirit world [22] . The film had its world premiere in India where it was nominated for The Golden Crow Pheasant Award for Best film at the Kerala Film Festival. The US Premiere took place at the New Orleans Film Festival[23]. The film featured surreal footage, depicting the spiritual world, from acclaimed macro-paint artist, Thomas Blanchard, who later used the same technique to design the international campaign for the release of Apple 's iPhone X[24][25].
His second feature film, Sea of Light, which he wrote and directed in 2018, using the same non-actor casting technique from his first feature, revolved around the mystical journeys of a real-life priest, a fisherman and a quantum physicist. The film which was set and filmed in The Westfjords in Iceland won several awards in Argentina, the United Kingdom and the US.
In 2019, Ayoub wrote and directed his third feature, Darkness of Otherwhere set in Tokyo, Japan, and filmed in black and white in the gritty city of Kabukicho. The film starred, Japanese sensation, Mika Hijii from the Ninja franchise films and renown theater actor Keisuke Ishida. Darkness of Otherwhere went on to win best Experimental Film at the Venice Film Week, the Toronto Arthouse Film Festival and the Amsterdam Independent Film Festival. The film also garnered a lot of buzz at the New York Cinematography Awards and is considered Ayoub's most successful feature to date.
In May 2020, it was announced that Qanir was developing his fourth feature film set in Plyos, Russia.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Koyakatsi | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2014 | Artificio Conceal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2017 | The World of Which We Dream Doesn't Exist | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2018 | Sea of Light | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2020 | Darkness of Othewhere | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TBA | Daria | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
Short Films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | A Few Hours In | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2010 | Human After All | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2011 | Room 237 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2012 | Moonwalker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Documentaries
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | New Orleans | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2010 | Live at Little Radio | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Music Videos
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Lost in Space | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2009 | Fairytales | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2010 | Live at The Roxy | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Awards
As of 2020, Qanir's films have garnered over 100 awards and nominations worldwide. His short film, Artificio Conceal, was selected to over 50 film festivals, including Cannes Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, New York Short Film Festival and Maryland Film Festival. The film won Best Short and Best Cinematography at Fort Myers Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival respectively.
In 2017, his debut feature, The World of which We Dream doesn't Exist, picked up over 30 noms, including a Best Film nomination at the Kerala Film Festival, in India, the New Orleans Film Festival, Cardiff Film Festival, and Dublin Film Festival. The film, set in Mongolia, took home Best Production Design at the Ischia Film Festival, in Italy, as well as Best Film at the California Film Awards.
His third feature film, set in Tokyo, Japan, Darkness Of Otherwhere has won Best Experimental Film at the Venice Film Week, The Toronto Arthouse Film Festival and the Ghent Independent Film Festival, in Belgium. The film has additionally been nominated to Best Film at The Amsterdam Independent Film Festival and Brussels Independent Film Festival. The Japanese film was additionally nominated for Best Cinematography at the New York Cinematography Awards.
In November 2015, Qanir became a Knight of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite awarded by the King of Morocco, for his contribution as artist and filmmaker.[26]
Graphic novels
Ayoub begun his foray into fiction developing several comic books and graphic novels with notable illustrators and comic artists such as Marvel 's Juan Doe, Patryk Hardziej, Cristiano Siqueira or even acclaimed digital illustrator Kilian Eng who later went on to design the official graphic campaign to the 4th season of Game of Thrones and Tom Cruise's Oblivion.
Notable Works
| Year | Title | Creator | Writer | Producer | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Daniel Dume | Yes | Yes | No | Cristiano Siqueira |
| 2009 | Mechanism | Yes | Yes | Yes | Juan Doe |
| 2010 | Artemesia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| 2011 | Duke Rising | Yes | Yes | Yes | Patrick Hardziej |
| 2011 | Kunin | Yes | Yes | Yes | Artem Solop |
| 2012 | Fennec Knows Best | Yes | Yes | Yes | Taz |
| 2012 | Koyakatsi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kilian Eng |
| 2015 | Green March | Yes | Yes | Yes | Juan Doe & Pius Bak |
| 2016 | Space | Yes | Yes | Yes | Antoine Collignon |
Concept Design
Qanir has additionally worked on several concept and design projects for Puma, Absolut and Adidas.
One of his most notable concepts, the HRS-1 (Heightened Reality Stimuli-1), is a silicon-based patch device which sit on the user's cheek and serves as an augmented reality projector.[27]
Essays
In February 2014, Qanir published one of his essays We Are Meaning.[28] A few months later and after a successful run, artist Patrick Hardziej and Qanir decided to collaborate and turn the essay into a graphic campaign with the same name.[29] The campaign received over 250,000 views worldwide.
References
- ↑ "Ayoub Qanir Takes Time to Cannes" – via The Huffington Post.
- ↑ "Artificio Conceal nominated for best short at EIFF" – via Top 10 Films.
- ↑ "Artificio Conceal selected to Cannes" – via Digital Journal.
- ↑ "Artificio accepted at Cannes" – via Fan Carpet.
- ↑ "Hacking your brain" – via The Huffington Post.
- ↑ "David Bailie joins Artificio Conceal" – via Screendaily.
- ↑ "David Bailie" – via PotC Wiki.
- ↑ "Simon Armstrong cast Conceal" – via Screendaily.
- ↑ [hhttps://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Qhorin "Simon Armstrong Qhorin"] – via Game of Thrones Wiki.
- ↑ "Telling it Right" – via Deccan Chronicle.
- ↑ "Kerala Film Festival" – via IFFK.
- ↑ "Ayoub Qanir Honored by Suma Josson" – via IFFK.
- ↑ "Meet The Directors" – via IFFK.
- ↑ "The Next Big Thing" – via Miami Living Magazine.
- ↑ "Celebrated Local Directors" – via Miami Film Festival.
- ↑ "Watch SciFi proof-of-concept" – via First Showing.
- ↑ "Koyakatsi Concept Trailer" – via Giant Freaky Robot.
- ↑ "Artificio Conceal nominated for best short at EIFF" – via Top 10 Films.
- ↑ "Artificio Conceal selected to Cannes" – via Digital Journal.
- ↑ "SIFF Official Selection" (PDF) – via Seattle International Film Festival.
- ↑ "lematin". Journal Le Matin.
- ↑ "NOFF Official Selection Catalogue" – via New Orleans Film Festival.
- ↑ "NOFF Official Selection Catalogue" – via New Orleans Film Festival.
- ↑ "Visuaal Catalogue" – via Visuaal Magazine.
- ↑ "Arnau Bosh Catalogue" – via Arnau Bosh Agency.
- ↑ Reynolds, Ann; deriving, ContributorI'd rather be (July 8, 2013). "Ayoub Qanir Finds Meaning". HuffPost.
{{cite web}}:|first2=has generic name (help) - ↑ Qanir, Ayoub; deriving, ContributorI'd rather be (August 20, 2012). "HRS-1". Behance.
{{cite web}}:|first2=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Collective, Space; deriving, ContributorI'd rather be (February 16, 2014). "We Are Meaning". Space Collective.
{{cite web}}:|first2=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Behance, Behance; deriving, ContributorI'd rather be (February 16, 2014). "We Are Meaning". Behance.
{{cite web}}:|first2=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)