Mahmoud Kaboor: Grand Ma A Thousand Times
Mahmoud is a multi award-winning filmmaker, writer, and lecturer of Lebanese origin. He graduated with distinction from the Mel Oppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal, after which he pursued a documentary focus at the National Film Board of Canada and the newsroom at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. His film “Being Osama”, the documentary on the lives and times of six men sharing bin Laden’s first name in the post 9/11 world, received four international awards to date and was aired on twelve international channels. It also made him the youngest commissioned filmmaker in the history of Canadian television.
Mahmoud is the founder and managing director of Veritas Films. His commercial work includes directing tailor-made documentaries for The Ministry of Presidential Affairs and The Executive Affairs Authority in Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, Dubai Investments, and Dubai Holding subsidiaries.
Having grown up in the UAE, Mahmoud brings a directing style that strikes a unique balance between sophisticated documentary approaches and an understanding of this region’s unique norms, sensibilities, and future aspirations. Coupled with his elaborate training in visual aesthetics and his ability to conduct interviews fluently in both tongues, Mahmoud’s films are praised for their authentic regional voice that is always delivered in a sophisticated visual language.
He is frequently commended by the press for his many personal projects, which range from curating a critically and popularly acclaimed film series to directing his own creative documentaries within the UAE, the Levant, and Europe. Mahmoud’s second feature- length film, “Teta, Alf Marra”, scooped up the Audience Award for Best Documentary at its world premiere at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, and also honored Mahmoud with a special jury mention for Best Arab Filmmaker. The film was also honored with the Audience Award for Best International Documentary at Dox Box in Syria. His third feature-length film, already boasting one award, is slated for production in mid-2011.
Additionally, Mahmoud provides media consultancy and curatorial services to various clients, as well as teaching master documentary classes to up-and-coming filmmakers across the GCC.