Abdurahman Hussain
- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Abdurahman Hussain aka Afro is a filmmaker based in Sana'a, Yemen who
began his obsession with filmmaking at the age of 12 when he saw an old
film on TV. Since then he fell in love with the world of cinema, and
became addicted to films; always wondering how magic is made.
When school children played outside, Abdurahman preferred to spend hours in the company of films. He watched anything he could, and in a sacred notebook wrote down the names of the films that he loved along with the names of the directors. For him, this was like a school allowing him to learn what he loves. With time, the list became too long due to the increased amount of films he watched.
His father noticed his passion for film and gifted him his first camcorder. At the age of 14, he began producing homemade films with the family, neighborhood kids and school peers. With the advent of Internet and nonexistence of film schools in Yemen, his curiosity drove him to teach himself as much as he could. He spent most of his time on the Internet, reading, researching and learning as much as he could of this magical world. Cinema became everything to him; his own world. He spent his days fantasizing about ideas for films, imagining scenes and ways to make them - as if he lived in two different worlds: one in reality and the other in his mind.
At the age of 18, he started making TV advertisements and short films in his home city of Taiz. He graduated from high school, then left his family with his good friend and moved to the capital Sana'a in pursuit of opportunities in this field. Together they opened a small advertising and media production business.
In 2010, he wrote and directed "The Old Lady ", a five-minute short film about the Old City of Sana'a. In 2011, he wrote and directed Zoom Short Film Competition 2011 Winner, "The Gift Maker (2011)."
During the Arab Spring, Abdurahman produced Yemen's most circulated and well-acclaimed campaign videos. He shifted his filmmaking skills to advocacy and awareness because as he puts it "that's what I am good at. That's my language."
Through his work, Abdurahman managed to express his ideas through visuals and an assertion that film is a powerful tool and driver for social change.
"The more I learn the more I want to learn. There are many stories in Yemen that need to be told"
When school children played outside, Abdurahman preferred to spend hours in the company of films. He watched anything he could, and in a sacred notebook wrote down the names of the films that he loved along with the names of the directors. For him, this was like a school allowing him to learn what he loves. With time, the list became too long due to the increased amount of films he watched.
His father noticed his passion for film and gifted him his first camcorder. At the age of 14, he began producing homemade films with the family, neighborhood kids and school peers. With the advent of Internet and nonexistence of film schools in Yemen, his curiosity drove him to teach himself as much as he could. He spent most of his time on the Internet, reading, researching and learning as much as he could of this magical world. Cinema became everything to him; his own world. He spent his days fantasizing about ideas for films, imagining scenes and ways to make them - as if he lived in two different worlds: one in reality and the other in his mind.
At the age of 18, he started making TV advertisements and short films in his home city of Taiz. He graduated from high school, then left his family with his good friend and moved to the capital Sana'a in pursuit of opportunities in this field. Together they opened a small advertising and media production business.
In 2010, he wrote and directed "The Old Lady ", a five-minute short film about the Old City of Sana'a. In 2011, he wrote and directed Zoom Short Film Competition 2011 Winner, "The Gift Maker (2011)."
During the Arab Spring, Abdurahman produced Yemen's most circulated and well-acclaimed campaign videos. He shifted his filmmaking skills to advocacy and awareness because as he puts it "that's what I am good at. That's my language."
Through his work, Abdurahman managed to express his ideas through visuals and an assertion that film is a powerful tool and driver for social change.
"The more I learn the more I want to learn. There are many stories in Yemen that need to be told"
