Ashraf Ghori
Visual Artist & Filmmaker

Ashraf Ghori is known to many residents here as the creator of Xero Error, the first CG animated short film to be produced in the United Arab Emirates. Some may even nostalgically recall Ashraf Ghori as the guy that did those amazing illustrations for Khaleej Times (if you grew up in the UAE and had a subscription to the children’s magazine Young Times, you know it, friendo!). Born in India, Ashraf was very little when his family moved to the city of Dubai, which he considers “his hometown.”  Ashraf completed his college at the University of Houston in 1994, founded Tempest Comics, and won several accolades in the United States including being the featured artist at the 1994 Dallas Comic Con. Ashraf returned to the UAE in 1994 and has since been working on independent 3D animation and design projects. In 2007, he began the animation studio Xpanse CGI, and the very next year started work on his labor of love, Xero Error.

WearetheMovies.com loves and supports independent filmmakers in the Middle East. We asked the very talented Ashraf Ghori about Xero Error, Dubai’s potential for independent film production, and…three people he’d like to have dinner with (apparently, Megan Fox made the list!) continue reading »»

Interview: Meqdad Al-Kout
Director of Paradoxes (Mufaraqat)

Independent Kuwaiti filmmaker Meqdad Al-Kout turns 25 in December; in the very same month, his short film Paradoxes (Mufaraqat) plays to curious cinephiles at the Dubai International Film Festival 2008. It is a double celebration for this self-described absurdist whose debut film has been described by Faizan Rashid in his review as “unorthodox and postmodern.” Meqdad is in Dubai, so we caught up with this fresh new voice of the Gulf for a candid interview… continue reading »»