Ali Hammoud is a filmmaker, editor and artistic director. He was born in Lebanon in 1972, and raised in Kuwait. He studied Communication Arts at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (USA), and has worked for a number of projects in Chicago, Illinois. He has been working as a freelance director for several TV stations and documentary projects since 2001. In 2008, Ali worked as an editor/projectionist for the CinemArena project, and he also served as an artistic director for the Beirut International Documentary Festival until 2009. He has attended many film festivals for documentaries, including IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), Documentamadrid, and DOK Leipzig, where he participated in discussions, film markets, and screenings.

In 2009, Ali completed his debut short documentary ‘About Those Who Have Gone’, which premiered at DocuDays and Dubai International Film Festival the same year. He was also the editor of a feature documentary called ‘Tonight’s Film…’, and has coordinated on the award winning interactive web-documentary ‘Highrise: Out My Window’, which was directed by Katerina Cizek and championed by the National Film Board of Canada.

Ali is currently researching and developing his next feature documentary.

DFI: Your debut short is ‘About Those Who Have Gone’. What is the documentary about?
Ali: The film is about unfortunate coincidences in the lives of bystanders who were killed during a series of political assassinations that have been happening in Lebanon since 2005. In the film, I wanted to stay away from TV reporting of the lives that got lost. The film is a revisit to places through voices that trail the last moments in the lives of their loved ones. The narration runs while different scenes are playing related to memories, and not the tragic incidents themselves.

DFI: You are a director and an editor as well. Does editing help you plan your frames while on a shoot?
Ali: I believe that a good editor makes a good director. An editor who works on cutting other people’s work could master what shots help create a meaningful image. If an editor becomes the director, then the framed shots would unconsciously be treated as if they’re being placed on a timeline.

DFI: How important is it for the director to communicate with the editor before going on a shoot? And do you recommend that directors edit their own films?
Ali: The role of the editor comes along post-production, when the filmmaker has completed filming. The editor will then sit with the director and do the work. Most of the time, directors prefer to work with an editor they’ve worked with before, or have some common visions with. And I think that getting someone else to edit is much healthier because it allows you to look at the film from a different angle and perspective.

DFI: Congratulations on your DFI grant. Can you tell us more about this new project?
Ali: Thank you! ‘Asphalt’ is a travelogue documentary on the lives of eight-wheeler truck drivers on the road in the Arab world. We follow their everyday work lives, when they load goods and travel across borders, while also examining their subculture, social lives, and whether frequent absences have an effect on family ties and relationships.

DFI: What inspired you to make this documentary? And what is the message you want to transmit?
Ali: I’ve always liked road films for their plot twist and characters. A journey on the road gives us the chance to learn about many details. I like travelling and exploring new things about people’s lives, and how they manage to overcome hardships. Through the leading characters, I want to document politics on the borders and the social lives of those on the road, while shedding light on the many misconceptions of the trucking culture.

DFI: What audience do you think is interested in documentaries? And other than festivals, how do people get the chance to see them?
Ali: People who attend documentary festivals are usually students, journalists, travellers and industry people. Unfortunately, only a handful of documentaries make it to the silver screen and into TV programming, so film festivals are a good chance for people to see shorts and feature films. Film distribution is essential for monetising different films of interest for TV and Internet viewing, as this will build a viewing habit for many in the Middle East.

DFI: There’s an eternal debate about documentaries, with some saying that it can never be objective. What is your opinion in this regard?
Ali: The power of documentaries comes from the fact that they are grounded in fact, not fiction. They are not objective because documentary filmmaking involves the communicator in making choices. Therefore, no matter how neutral or balanced the work might seem, it adheres to subjectivity.

DFI: You are an active blogger who writes beautiful opinions pieces about cinema. Is there any specific topics that intrigue you and why?
Ali: Over the years I’ve devoured film magazines, and collected hundreds of volumes. I decided to have my own website, where I could write about films and directors I admire, and blogging was the best way to do it. I write in Arabic to allow people to learn about films they don’t get the chance to see. I must admit that I haven’t been blogging much these days due to my very busy schedule, but you can visit my blogs and share your comments at http://cinemasoclose.blogspot.com and http://butterflyproduction.blogspot.com .

DFI: What is your favourite work of fiction and / or documentary, and why?
Ali: For fiction it would be ‘Apocalypse Now’, ‘Days of Heaven’ and ‘Stalker’. For documentaries it would be Chris Marker’s ‘Sans Soleil’, Maysles’ ‘Salesman’ and Werner Herzog’s ‘Grizzly Man’.

DFI: If you were to give tips to people wanting to join the documentary world, what would you say to them?
Ali: Watch as many films as you can, take notes, and ask yourself what subjects and visual approaches you like best.

DFI: How do you see the future of documentaries in light of the many appraisals in the Middle East?
Ali: Documentaries are still facing the old-new obstacles and are not advancing in terms of viewership, as they should. We need channels like Arte and Sundance willing to show alternative cinema, documentaries and shorts without restrictions and in their native language, because dubbing kills the spirit of the film.

DFI: Do you see hope for the future of cinema within the region?
Ali: There could be hope if Arab films get better marketing and distribution.