Discipline

Film Director

Ahmed Khattab is an award-winning film director and filmmaker based in Dubai, directing across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf. His work has won at the Red Sea International Film Festival and the Oscar-qualifying Alexandria International Film Festival, and he directs both animated and live-action films with the same authorial control.

A director who owns the whole film

Directing, for Ahmed, means holding every layer of a film together, story, script, visual language, performance, sound and pacing. He develops a clear idea, then protects it from development through to delivery so the finished film feels intentional in every frame. That control is what lets him move between animation and live action without losing a consistent voice. For a closer look at what that discipline involves day to day, see What a Film Director Actually Does in the Journal.

It is visible in Regional Museums, a film he directed for Our Saudi Story that blends live action with hand-drawn animation to introduce upcoming regional museums. The film has to inform and move an audience at once, and Ahmed's direction keeps both registers in balance. That Saudi output runs deepest in Riyadh and Jeddah, home to the Saudi Heritage Commission's Islamic Anthology Series and the Red Sea International Film Festival respectively.

Recognised on the festival circuit

Ahmed wrote and directed Children of Barzagh, a fully handcrafted 2D animated short that drew festival attention worldwide and won significant awards, distributed by Watermelon Pictures and streaming on Watermelon+. His festival record includes a win at the Red Sea International Film Festival, a win at the Oscar-qualifying Alexandria International Film Festival, a win at the Central Illinois Film Festival and Best Director at the Maverick Movie Awards in Los Angeles, with 16 festival laurels in total.

Alongside directing, he is Creative Director at MassHouse Studio and Executive Producer at Flint Culture, so he understands the full arc from creative vision to finished delivery. Whether the brief calls for a directed animation or a live-action piece, the priority is the same, a film that says one thing clearly and well. Reach him at hello@ahmed-khattab.com.

Selected work
Children of Barzagh →Regional Museums →
Explore
Animation Director →Creative Director →Film Producer →Regional Museums →Film, Animation & Creative Director in Dubai →Film, Animation & Creative Director in Abu Dhabi →Film, Animation & Creative Director in Riyadh →Film, Animation & Creative Director in Jeddah →Film, Animation & Creative Director in Doha →
Frequently Asked Questions
He directs animated films, live-action films and hybrids that combine both, from short-form authored work to institutional and cultural films across the Gulf.
Yes. He has won at the Red Sea International Film Festival, the Oscar-qualifying Alexandria International Film Festival, the Central Illinois Film Festival and took Best Director at the Maverick Movie Awards in Los Angeles, holding 16 festival laurels overall.
No. He directs live action as well, including Regional Museums, which blends live action with hand-drawn animation, though his best-known personal film is the 2D short Children of Barzagh.
He is based in Dubai and directs across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf. Contact him at hello@ahmed-khattab.com or +971 58 900 2332.
He directs nonfiction, documentary-style work such as Regional Museums, made for Our Saudi Story to introduce real places to a real audience. He also produces this kind of project, see his producing practice.
Contact

Let's talk

+971 58 900 2332hello@ahmed-khattab.com