Moe Najati

Born in the United Arab Emirates to Syrian and Lebanese parents, Moe Najati makes films drawn to the space between worlds, culturally, emotionally and increasingly technologically. His work centres on characters navigating change, displacement and quiet internal conflict.

His documentaries have taken him into Havana's underground Rumba scene (Uproar), the ritual of hospitality in rural Saudi Arabia (Hafawa), and the lives of people pursuing ambitions others told them were out of reach (It's Possible). Across fiction and documentary, his films share a restrained and precise sensibility, attentive to what people carry beneath the surface. Ensouled explored grief through science fiction.

That same eye carries into his commercial work. He has directed campaigns for Saudi Tourism, Alfa Romeo, Vice and Red Sea Global, and collaborated with Apple, Ferrari, McLaren and Coca-Cola. His work has been recognised at the Effies, the Webbys and Dubai Lynx.

His films have screened at BAFTA and Academy Award qualifying festivals including Sheffield DocFest, alongside genre festivals such as FilmQuest and Panic Fest. He won Best Director at LA International Short Film Festival and Best Sci-Fi or Fantasy at D.C. Shorts.

He is currently developing Lives in Absence, a psychological drama about a man confronting identity and loneliness in an age where presence can be manufactured.