User:Slahoud

Sam Lahoud is a scriptwriter, a director, a producer, a script consultant, and a lecturer in Film, Theater, and Media. He started his career in Film and Theater in 1994, and since then he has written, directed and produced Theater Plays, Films and Documentaries, which received many national and international recognition and awards; and his first feature film “Waynon” (Void) was the Lebanese official submission for the Academy Awards 2015 (Oscars) for Best Foreign Language Film. Sam is active in cross cultural productions, and is permanently working on different film projects. Co-Producer of the Lebanese Feature films Good Morning (2018), C-Section (2019), and the Chinese Film Meido (2019)

Sam is the Founding Chair of Beirut Film Society and Producer at Berytus Production and AV Nation. He is the Founding Director of the NDU International Film Festival since 2007, winner of the 2015 Social Economic Award for Youth Empowerment. Founder, Director of Beirut International Women Film Festival. Founder, Director of Beirut International Children and Family Film Festival. Founder and Program Director of the Lebanese Film Festival in Canada. Founder, Artistic & Program Director of the Golden Grenade Armenian Film Festival in Beirut Short Films Curator for HFPA Snow Leopard Award & Scholarship for Asian Middle East Countries. Short Film Programmer for Rabat International Author Film Festival. Artistic Consultant for Koura Cinema Days. Member of the National Film Committee at the Lebanese Ministry of Culture since 2014. Founding member of the Emile Chahine Foundation for Cinema Culture, and of Film Festivals Cinergy; Member of the Media Advisory Board of “Women Empowerment for Leadership” by Maharat Foundation. Member of the Academic Advisory Board of “Mentor Arabia”. Member of the Advisory Board of MENA Media Fund by Visionaire Media. Board Member at the Silk Road Film Festival - Dublin, Ireland; Middle East representative at the Asian World Film Festival - Los Angeles, USA; previous board member at Monaco Charity Film Festival – Monaco from 2008 till 2012; serves as jury member in various local and international film festivals and competitions.

In 2007, Sam founded the Beirut Film Society, an NGO that works closely with Lebanese and international filmmakers and film associations, which aims to empower the film industry in Lebanon and promote responsible filmmaking.

In 2018 & 2019 and for two consecutive years, he and his colleague and partner, Nicolas Khabbaz, were selected among the “100 most Important Names in the Arab Film Industry” by the Arab Cinema Center “Global 100 Industry People That Matter.” in the special edition for Cannes Film Festival.

He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Media and Film at Notre Dame University – Louaize, where he served as Founding Director of Communications from 2014 till 2017, Chairperson of the Department of Media Studies from 2012 till 2014, and founded and headed the Division of Audio Visual Arts from 2006 until 2012.

He holds a MA in Media Studies - Electronic Journalism and Public Relations from NDU, a MA in Scriptwriting from Université Saint Joseph (IESAV) and a BA in Communication Arts, Radio, Television and Film from NDU.

He has organized, participated and presented panels, workshops, and seminars on Lebanese cinema, directing actors, scriptwriting, production, and sacred drama. Since 1994, he taught music, photography, and arts education. He currently teaches courses in scriptwriting, directing actors, directing techniques, media laws and ethics, and he supervises the students’ senior films productions.