Muayad Alayan is a Palestinian film director and producer based in Jerusalem whose award-winning work has been seen by audiences all over the world.
His second feature film, 2018's The Reports On Sarah And Saleem, premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it won the Special Jury Prize of the Hivos Tiger Competition and the Hubert Bals Audience Award. It was also awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Seattle International Film Festival and Best Feature Film at the Durban International Film Festival.
The film, which was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, the Berlinale World Cinema Fund, and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, has been distributed in over 50 territories.
His directorial feature debut Love, Theft, And Other Entanglements premiered at the Berlinale Panorama in 2015 and went on to win two Best Arab Narrative Film Awards, as well as being nominated for several First Feature Awards at the Berlinale, Seattle International Film Festival, Taipei International Film Festival, Carthage Film Festival, and others. Moreover, it has been distributed in over 20 territories.
Prior to that, Alayan's first narrative short Lesh Sabreen? (2009) premiered in competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and went on to compete at several other major festivals, including the Aspen Shortsfest, Cinemed, Palm Springs Shortfest, and Dubai International Film Festival, in addition to over 60 other festivals worldwide.
Furthermore, Alayan worked extensively with youth and community centers and non-governmental organizations on projects promoting cinema culture and cinema infrastructure in Palestine. He also acted as an instructor of directing and cinematography at several academic institutions and has served as a jury member on several international and regional film festivals and funds.
A House In Jerusalem is Alayan's first English language film. He is also currently developing his first US-set feature film.