Elie Fahed is a Lebanese filmmaker and director that has been working in the film industry ever since he was a student at the Lebanese University – Fine Arts Institute.
@eliefahedFahed’s short film “Ma Yenaad Aaleik” (Not Happy Return to You) was selected for the Beirut International Film Festival in 2011. This short film was shot when Fahed was still in his second year of college.
Due to his artistic insights and creative filmmaking skills, his senior project of short film for his Bachelor degree, titled “Min Boutoulet Julia” (Starring Julia), has been shown at film festivals around the world, including the Baghdad Film Festival, MENAR Film Festival, The 5th edition of FICMEC Outbox Film Festival, and NDU Student Film Festival.
“Min Boutoulet Julia” won the Orbit Prize at the Beirut International Film Festival 2012 and the “Best Student Short Film” award in Monaco at the MCFF 2013.
Fahed has also filmed several short films and ADs for Lebanese and Arab celebrities, the likes of Elie Saab, Elissa, and Nadine Njeim. Even though he has achieved success at a relatively fast pace, Fahed remains extremely humble, kind, and honest.
In Portugal, to attend GQ MEN OF THE YEAR tonight, so freakin’ excited!!! pic.twitter.com/on4MnJiFOJ
— Elie Fahed (@Elie_Fahed) November 30, 2019
Every year, Fahed chooses to release a personal short film and put it out on the internet. This year, he wanted to address the idea of fear, which was evident in his short film titled “The Fear Of Fear.”
The film, starring Elie Fahed, speaks of different kinds of fears, some of them are: the fear of aging, love, unending fear, leaving your own homeland, money, immigrating and not coming back. The film is shot in black and white, with one scene in color when Fahed speaks of “the fear of failure.”
This film caught the attention of GQ Portugal Magazine and led them to also watch another film of his called “Life in 2 Minutes” that Fahed had posted two years earlier. Impressed by his work, GQ Portugal asked him to take part in this year’s event of “GQ Men of The Year.”
According to their website, their annual event “Men of the Year” celebrates “the year’s cultural high points, packed with interviews, profiles, and videos featuring the actors, musicians, politicians, designers, and more whose work we can’t stop talking about.”
Fahed is the first Lebanese to be part of the GQ Portuguese edition of Men of The Year. When asked about the experience, he explained: “The event was amazing because they screened the films for everyone to watch. People were moved by them, which made me extremely happy, especially that these two films are Lebanese spoken films.”
Fahed added: “It was beautiful when people at the after-party came to me and said: “These films were so relatable, so raw and honest.” I feel like this is the most beautiful thing anyone would tell me about my films.”
Fahed addressed the current situation in Lebanon during his speech on the night of the GQ Man of the Year Ceremony. He said, “I come from a very small country where our voices are barely heard. And now, more than ever, we need our voices to be heard.”
“I decided to make a film about fear because it’s the only thing that stops us from moving on. This film is for everyone who is afraid today, afraid to dream, to love, or to actually move on.”