Ahmad Habash
I am a Palestinian Filmmaker and Animator, born in Iraq 1976. In early ages my parents noticed and encouraged my illustration abilities, I acquired a reputation for caricaturing people and drawing comics. After obtaining my BA degree in Film Directing from the High Institute of Cinema in Egypt 1999,I worked in the independent film industry and in a variety of advertising commercials and artistic productions.
In 2003, I took a major step to switch my career to animation, fulfilling my childhood dream and started working as an animator and filmmaker while continuing a self-study pace to develop my animation skills. In September 2007, I graduated from Bournemouth University with a - Master with distinction - degree in 3D Computer Animation.
I have recently moved to New Zealand as skilled immigrant, and will be seeking opportunities in Film and animation industries. my expertise range from directing, animating, visual effects creation, storytelling, acting, writing and illustrating comics and graphic novels.
Technical / Computer Skills
- Filmmaking and Production skills: Directing, Editing and Production design.
- 3D Generalist: Advanced knowledge and control of Autodeskʼs Softimage, skills include Modeling, Texturing, Rigging, Scripting, Animating, Lighting and Scene setup, Rendering, Compositing. plus (novice level) of the Interactive Creative Environment ICE.
- Advanced knowledge and control of 2D animation software (TVPaint and Toon Boom Studio), skills include illustrating Backgrounds, Layout and Characters, Coloring and Shading, Animating and Compositing.
- Illustration and Painting skills both traditional and digital with advanced control of (Photoshop / Illustrator / Sketchbook Pro), skills include Life Drawing, Concept and Layout Design, Character development and Storyboarding.
- Advanced knowledge and control of compositing and VFX applications Adobe After Effects and Imagineer’s Mocha with novice level on the Foundry’s Nuke, skills include Tracking, Rotoscoping, Keying, Masking and Graphics Animation.
- Advanced knowledge and control of Appleʼs (Final Cut Studio).
Other Skills
- Additional Skills include Acting and Voice-over acting, Sculpting, Clay Modeling and creating StopMotion Animation.
- Comics and Graphic Novels Writing and Illustrating, Storytelling and Brainstorming, Photography and Panorama Creation.
- personal interests include cooking, busking, dancing and Guitar playing.
- 2006-2007 MA 3D Computer Animation (Distinction with a letter of commendation) from The National Center of Computer Animation at Bournemouth University, United Kingdom.
- 1993-1997 BA Film and Video Directing (with Honor), The High Institute of Cinema and Video,Cairo, Egypt.
Workshops at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts, Salzburg, Austria
- July/2009 Media/Video Art Workshop “New Media Lectures” with artist Anna Konik.
- Aug/2006 Video Art Workshop “Dream/things imagined” with artist Valie Export.
- July/2006 Experimental/Video Art Workshop “Borders” with artist Shirin Neshat.
- Aug/2005 Video Art Workshop “Game as Art / Art is a game” with artist Feng Mengbo.
- Aug/2003 Video Art Workshop “Sound and Image - Media Installations” with Woody and StienaVasulka.
- MA 3D Computer Animation (Distinction with a letter of commendation) from The National Center of Computer Animation at Bournemouth University, United Kingdom.
- BA Film and Video Directing (with Honor), The High Institute of Cinema and Video,Cairo, Egypt
Ramallah, Palestine - 2007/2011
- March/2011 Animated and illustrated promotional Flip books about Jerusalem produced by Palvision Foundation
- Feb/2011 Co-writer and Director of “The Well” ©, A short live-action film. Produced by Jerusalem First Films. I have also created the storyboard and all the visual effects for the film.
- Jan/2011 Lecturer for Animation Foundation course at the Palestine Art Academy.
- Fab/2010 Studentʼs Mentor at the Palestine Art Academy, providing a one-to-one consistent support, and guidance for students using animation art to gain the skills and confidence they need to be responsible for their own artwork.
- July/2009 Director, Co-writer and sole animator and compositor for “Fatenah” ©, a 30 min 3D Animation, Produced by Dar Films and Funded by the World Health Organization.
- Nov/2008 Visual effects artist and color corrector of all shots of the “Jerusalem: Capital of Arab Culture” Promo. Duties included footage masking, background correction and wires removals.
- July/2008 VFX Creation and Composition of all clips in “Lydda Airport”©, a 5 minutes Video Art by the International Palestinian artist Emily Jacir.
- Feb/2008 Animator for British Artist Helen Schoene in her research project “What I Wish For”©, Produced by the Chisenhale Dance Space. Created a 14 min of 2D animated sequence
- Sep/2007 Animator and live Performer of “From The Memory of The Sand”©, a 15 min Sand animation, part of the Annual commemoration of the late palestinian president. produced by the Yasser Arafat Foundation.
Bournemouth University, UK - 2006/2007
- Aug/2007 Writer, Director and sole Animator of “Red Feather”©, a 5 min 3D Animation, Master Project "produced by NCCA.
- Feb/2007 Co-writer, co-director and co-animator of “Wanted”©, a 3 min 3D Animation, Group Project "produced by NCCA.
Salzburg, Austria 2006-2009 (International Summer academy of Fine art)
- July/2009 Artistʼs Assistant for artist Anna Konik in her “New Media Lectures” workshop at the academy.
- July/2009 Group Exhibition “Ana”© Parcours I - the exhibition of the assistants of the International Summer academy in Hallein. KG Freiräume in Hallein.
- July/2006 Artistʼs Assistant for artist VALIE EXPORT in her workshop (Dream /things imagined) at the academy. I was in charge of software training, developing studentʼs ideas and finding creative solutions and methods for the studentʼs production.
- Aug/2006 Artistʼs Assistant for artist Shirin Neshat in her workshop (Borders) at the academy. I was in charge of the final edit of students work beside working with them on brainstorming stages.
Ramallah, Palestine - 2000/2006
- Sep/2006 Director and animator of “Flee”©, a 3 min Sand animation produced by the Palestinian Filmmakers Collective.
- 2003-2005 Director and animator of many short animations in various techniques; such as “The Treasure”, a 4 min stop-motion animation and “Coming Back”, a 7 min short 2D animation. All produced by In-Frame Production, an independent animation company.
- Sep/2001 Writer and director of “The Moon Sinking”, a 50 min digital experimental feature produced by the Palestinian Communication Center and Cinema Production Center (CPC)
Awards
- Oct/2009" Jury Special Mention (MiddleEast Short) Award for “Fatenah”, The Middle East International Film Festival, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
- Nov/2009" Noor Award (Best Short fiction) for “Fatenah”, The 13th Annual Arab Film Festival " (AFF) USA.
- Nov/2009" Second Prize (The Roberto Rossellini Award 2009) for best animation achievement " from the International Roberto Rossellini Organization at the Maiori Film Festival, Maiori, Italy.
- April/2008" Won Said Foundationʼs Second prize for (Outstanding Personal and Academic Achievements).
- Nov/2005" Jury Special Notification Award for the short animation “Coming Back” at the Biennale del Cinema per la Pace in Pisa, Italy.
+64 (0) 2102846783
ahmad.habash@ymail.com
www.ahmadhabash.com
Member Profile
Ahmad HabashA self-motivated and productive Filmmaker and Animator. With over 12 years of experience that improved abilities such as creative storytelling, working in a team under tight schedules and problem solving while continually working to the professional standards. Generally, Iʼm fascinated by illustration and animation methods and theories, always eager to learn to update my knowledge and improve my performance. Specialties include 3D character animation, storyboarding and Visual effects creation plus a wide range of expertise in traditional 2d animation and stop-motion.
