User:Ali Kubba (Filmmaker)

Ali Kubba (born 4th of August, in Baghdad, Iraq), is a British Iraqi professional Filmmaker who resides in London, United Kingdom and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Ali is best known for his series of travel videos from around the world, named "4K Travels", and for his work with Panasonic[1], on the release of the GH5 and GH5s. He has also had his work featured in places such as Gizomdo[0], Boing Boing[2], Baltice New Network, Unilad, Visit London, Grenoble Street Art Film Festival and TheAwesomer.com among others.

Early life
Ali was born in Baghdad, Iraq, but lived most of his life in Surrey, United Kingdom, 30 miles away from the UK's capital, London.

Being the second of two children (Nabeel and Ali Kubba), Ali earned his first undergraduate degree in Arts sciences at Nottingham Trent University. During his years in university, Ali was hired by Robert Bosch, UK as an intern.

After nearly two years working for Bosch, Ali decided to move to Nottingham, United Kingdom, to further continue his education. After nine months in Nottingham, Ali earned his bachelor's degree in Business Management from Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University[3].

"Breakdancing with Smoke Grenades"
While in Nottingham, Ali met a friend who had a degree in photography and had her own camera. Following the friend's suggestion, Ali helped his friend with her showreel video. During this period, Ali started falling in love with the concept of filmmaking and photography.

After posting some of his images and stories on filmmaking communities, the "Breakdancing with Smoke Grenades[4]" video gained popularity, attracting attention from entertainment and art outlets such as Gizmodo[5], Boing Boing and The Awesomer. Eventually the project reached mainstream media, receiving coverage from the TPortal News[6], Baltic News Network and other news channels.

"Dreaming of London"
After finishing his "Breakancing with Smoke Grenades[5]" project, Ali started a new project entitled "Dreaming of London[7]".

While walking around Brick Lane in London, Ali came across a model (Catalina Berenblum Tobi) who he approached on the street and asked to be in this project. Catalina agreed and they both ventured out in London to create this project. Following that, Ali would go out to London on daily basis over a period of 3 weeks to capture multiple Hyper-lapses and Time-lapses around the golden hour in various location in London.

After gaining attention on YouTube, Ali was approached by Panasonic to work with them on further videos promoting the Panasonic Lumix GH5 and GH5s

"London Under Lockdown"
Just before the complete first national UK lockdown, Ali decided to start the "London Under Lockdown[8]" project. Ali headed out to London and film the empty streets as this is something he has never seen before. The project gained overnight popularity and currently has over 150,000 views on YouTube.

Other projects
Ali has also worked on commercial projects for various brands and is currently working as a freelance filmmaking director and educator. Most recently Ali ran a videography and colour grading workshop for King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Saudi Arabia. Ali also recently founded his production company Cine Range in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. [9]