Staff
Rolla Tahir
Co-founder, Artistic DirectorRolla Tahir is a filmmaker and director of photography based in Toronto. She’s lensed short, narrative and experimental films, which screened across Canada and internationally, including the UK, Germany, and the United States. Obsessed with the durability, longevity and spontaneity of the analog film medium, Rolla has worked with Super 8, 16mm and 35mm to explore the analog process and its possibilities.
Mason Hatahet
Co-founder, Executive Director
Ahmad Alhaj
Festival ProgrammerAhmad Alhaj is a Syrian filmmaker, film programmer, curator, journalist. founder of WIND CINEMA an emerging France based international film production and Distribution company, born in Al Hassake 1990 He writes for several Arab cultural websites and magazines, meanwhile organizing and programming film manifestations in Turkey and Netherland at Pages book store, in Copenhagen and Sweden at Syrian Doc days festival, in Canada at TAF Toronto Arab film festival and already in Syria before leaving the country. He made a short film in 2015 called “Its only three nails!! Saturn devouring his son” have been showed in more than 100 cities world wild. He got a diploma in finance and practical legal studies from Syria . Currently, based in France as a political refugee.
Zeinah Kalati
Festival Programmer
Rand Abou-Fakher
ProgrammerRand Abou-Fakher studied as a flutist in the Syrian Conservatory, broadening her practice in Brussels to audiovisual arts. Today, she works as a director, theatre actor, (art) project manager and programmer. Her short films Braided Love (2018) and So We Live (2020) have been shown at festivals and museums worldwide. In the process, So We Live won an Oscar Qualifying Award.
Muriel Kahwagi
ProgrammerMuriel Kahwagi works across writing, research, and programming. Her work has appeared in Rusted Radishes, Cold Cuts, and Kalimat. Her first edited volume, The real and imagined histories of sung poetry, supported by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, was published in November 2022. Featuring contributions from scholars, artists, and musicians, the project explores the relationship between oral history and the (physical) archive; and the mediation and transmission of memories and folkloric traditions.
Azza Abbaro
Web & Graphic Designer
Karen Habib
Marketing & DevelopmentKaren Habib is a content writer born in Beirut, Lebanon, raised around the UAE, currently based in BC. While studying Film in Toronto, Karen noticed an absence of Arab films and filmmakers on Canadian screens. Her desire to change that and give back to her Arab heritage is what brought her to The Toronto Arab Film. She is excited to share with the public the various Pan-Arab voices and their captivating stories.
Hiba Sleiman
Media CoordinatorHiba Sleiman is a Montreal-based artist and drama therapist. She is an actor and a writer for stage and screen and started her psychotherapy practice in 2023. Hiba’s curiosity for human behaviour has informed her creative work as her writing contemplates themes of identity, belonging, and politics of the self and the other. Hiba has worked with acclaimed filmmakers and stage directors in Lebanon, Canada, and the States. She recently developed the script for the upcoming music concert of the Canadian Arabic Orchestra. She is currently developing an
immersive piece taking place “off stage” and working on producing her second independent short film.
Aly Shahin
Administrative Assistant
Board
Majd Khnouf
Board ChairMajd Khnouf is a Palestinian Jordanian with a background in industrial engineering. This experience has led to professional roles within the engineering and IT sectors in several capacities, including human resources consultant, proposals, business development, project coordination, and project management. She is currently pursuing her MBA in Toronto at the Schulich School of Business. She takes great pride in Youth for Music Association, a non-profit organization she co-founded with the goal of encouraging the continuity and growth of youth musicians in Jordan. She hopes that her experience and interest in films will help in shedding light on talented Arab filmmakers.
Cayley James
Board Vice ChairCayley James is an arts administrator and writer based in Toronto. For the past ten years she has worked in the independent arts on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2013, she completed her MLITT in Film and Television at the University of Glasgow. She joined the staff at LIFT between 2018-2024 and her writing has been featured in Cinema Scope and The Globe and Mail.
Jordan De Biasi
Board TreasurerAfter completing his BA in Film & Media Production ’13, Jordan DeBiasi worked as a camera operator for independent productions around the GTA. In 2014, he joined an international automotive manufacturer as their Marketing Advisor, creating all B2B promotional material. Shortly thereafter gaining green belt certification in 6 Sigma, he then completed a Graduate Certificate in Global Business Management ’17. In 2017, Jordan accepted a leadership role, within operations, as their material’s supervisor supporting a distribution facility, internal logistics and painter supplier relations. In 2021, he accepted admission to Schulich School of Business to complete his MBA, specializing in Art’s, Media & Entertainment Management, class of 2023. Upon graduation, he aims to pivot back into the entertainment space, as an aspiring producer.
Moe Rai
Board DirectorAfter finishing his studies at the University of Toronto, and graduating with an honors bachelor in Computer Science and Mathematics, Moe Rai decided to dive into his passion of filmmaking.
He graduated from the Toronto Film School with honors in Film Production and gathered a vast experience in TV & Film Production, Marketing, Advertising, Training and Coaching.
Rai had the privilege of working with great Canadian and International talent, taking roles such as Line Producer and Production Manager for several features, shorts, commercials and new media projects, while working with the industry’s key players and major companies
A strong believer of knowledge transfer, Moe grew his second passion in training youth to develop their soft, business and media skills in order to develop their communities.
His passion of creating positive change was developed by collaborating with several local and international NGO’s such as Junior Chamber International and United Nation.
Katie Connell
Board DirectorKatie Connell is a writer, programmer, and educator based in Toronto. Her writing on film has appeared in Canadian and international publications, including Another Gaze, Canadian Art, Cineaste, Cinema Scope, Hyperallergic, Little White Lies, MUBI Notebook, Vulture and Reverse Shot. She is a former board member at Pleasure Dome and a current programmer of multiple years at Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ film festival. Katie is passionate about the ways that film can create and strengthen relationships between individuals and communities.
Anthony Youssef
Board DirectorAnthony Youssef is a Lebanese-Canadian artist whose multi-disciplinary practice focuses on the intersection of politics and material culture. His most recent work focused on the movement in the Holiday Inn Beirut’s socio-political narrative and culminated in an exhibition on display at ArtSpeak Gallery in Windsor, ON. Anthony hopes to contribute his experience in corporate and professional events to TAF’s dedication to bringing Arab films to its audiences. Anthony was previously awarded the curator-in-residence position with the Arts Council Windsor and Region during which he developed an exhibition and critical essay focusing on the intersection of the automotive industry and contemporary artistic practices in Windsor, ON. Anthony holds a Master of Architecture from Carleton University (2022) and a Bachelor of Architectural Science from Toronto Metropolitan University (2016).
Mostafa Abd El Meguid
Board DirectorMostafa Abd El Meguid is an Egyptian-Canadian engineer working in e-commerce. This comes following a long stint in the global broadcast and content distribution industry that now gives him a unique perspective on the intersection of technology and media. He currently resides in Toronto, via Cairo and Kuwait, with an extended stop along the way in Montreal for university.
Mostafa is passionate about the health and well-being of his local community, believing that strong grassroots organisations are essential to the thriving of the societies they call home. To that end, he served on the board of directors at YMCA Canada, where he worked to support the mission to promote healthy living, community engagement, and youth development. In his spare time, Mostafa enjoys running, ultimate frisbee, trivia and consuming pop culture (not necessarily in that order).