Kais al-Zubaidi

Kais al-Zubaidi (; 1939 – 1 December 2024), also spelled Qais Al-Zubaidi or Kays Al Zbaide, was an Iraqi-born director, writer and researcher in film theory and montage. In the 1960s, he studied both montage and photography at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Germany. Then he proceeded to work as a director, cameraman, and scenario writer. He directed a number of documentary and narrative films about Palestine, some of which won Arab and international awards. He was best known for his films The Visit, Al-yazerli, The Adventure (both 1974), and Al-lail (1992).

Life and career Al-Zubaidi graduated from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Germany with a diploma in Montage (1964) and in Photography (1969). Then he proceeded to work at the DIVA Studio for Documentary Films and at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Germany in montage, photography and directing.

Al-Zubaidi has organized several cinematic courses in scenario, directing, and editing in Tunis and at the Radio and TV Training Center, Union of Arab Broadcasters in Damascus, Al-Manar TV Training Center in Beirut, Goethe Institute in Damascus, and The Royal Jordanian Commission in Amman.

Al-Zubaidi died on 1 December 2024, at the age of 85.

Works

Films Far from the Homeland, 1969 Men Under the Sun, 1970 The Visit, 1970 The Knife, 1972 The Mexican Hoax, 1972 Testimonies of Palestinian Children in Wartime, 1972 Love's Other Face, 1973 The Adventure, 1974 Al Yazerli, 1974 Al-lail, 1992

Books The Structure of a TV Drama Series: Towards a New Dramatic, Qudamus Publishing House, 2001 The Dramatic of Change: Bertolt Brecht, Canaan House, 2004 The Visual and Audible in Cinema, Damascus: The General Film Organization, 2006 Palestine in Cinema, Institute for Palestine Studies, 2006 The Literary Medium in Cinema, Abu Dhabi: Festival: Films from the Emirates, 2007 Monographs in Film’s Image, Theory, and History, Damascus: The General Film Organization, 2010 In Film Culture – Monographies, Cairo: The General Authority for Cultural Palaces, 2013 Documentary Film: Reality Without Banks, Palestinian Ministry of Culture, 2017 Studies in the Structure of the Film Medium, Sharjah: Department of Culture, 2018