Maha Al-Saati

Maha Al-Saati is an independent filmmaker interested in exploring femininity, gender, and women's issues in the Arab World. She is also an honorary recipient of the TIFF Filmmaker Lab Fellowship - Share Her Journey Award. She has worked on various experimental, short films. Her short film: "Hair: The Story of Grass" (2018), explores societal attitudes towards beauty standards and body hair, as well as the culture of oppression towards the mentally challenged. The film was an official selection of Slamdance 2019, Fantastic Fest 2018, Holly Shorts 2019, and nominated for The New Filmmakers LA Best International Short Film Drama. Her feature project "Trip to Disney" is in development with the Red Sea Lodge, TorinoFilmLab, 2020 TIFF Filmmaker Lab, Malmo Arab Film Festival and El-Gouna Film Festival. Her latest short film: "Cycle of Apples" (2019) explores the gender roles women in Arab cultures are trapped in. It has been an official selection of the Mizna Arab Film Festival. It builds on the 1-minute version that was an official selection of the TIFFxInstagram 2018 competition. Her other works include "Fear: Audibly" (2017), a film about the anxiety of the end of times from a Muslim perspective. It screened at Fantastic Fest, The Arab Film Festival in Rotterdam, Festival des Cinémas Arabes à Paris, Festival du film Arabe de Fameck, and the KFCC short films competition in Riyadh. She has also tackled the issue of cyberbullying in her short TV comedy "e-pidemic" (2018), which aired on the MBC channel and AramTV in Jun 2018. Al-Saati also holds a PhD in Interactive Arts & Technology from Simon Fraser University, Canada. She teaches at the Graphic Design and Multimedia Department of Dammam. Her research explores issues in media education, as well as the influence of religion and culture on popular Saudi Arabian media forms. She has taught in both Canada and Saudi Arabia a variety of subjects covering graphic design, theory of media, history of visual communication, moving images, and visual storytelling.