Bader Ben Hirsi

BADER BEN HIRSI wrote and directed his first play at the age of 11. He went on to pursue a career as a theatre playwright and director with numerous successes at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at London Fringe theatres where in his early twenties press compared him to Edgar Allan Poe and Jean-Paul Sartre, leading What’s On (London) to write he is a writer and director ‘too bleak and too brilliant to be missed’. After reading for an MA in Drama Production from Goldsmith’s College, London University, Bader turned his attention to projects promoting a different image of the Arab World with his first award-winning feature documentary The English Sheikh & The Yemeni Gentleman generating great international appeal. Soon after, he went on to write and direct Yemen’s first-ever feature film A New Day In Old Sana’a which again won an accolade of awards and global recognition – Other projects include ITN/C4’s successful Hajj; Greatest Journey on Earth and O3’s insightful 9/11 Through Saudi Eyes including exclusive access to friends and family of the suspected hijackers. In Abu Dhabi, Bader produced the first series of Abu Dhabi’s ground-breaking Millions’ Poet series, one of the most successful show in Arab television history. He then went on to direct and produce The Arabian Oryx – Freed Spirit of The Desert and the feature documentary Changing Sands – The Story of Abu Dhabi, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Bader is a co-producer of the multi award -winning Iraqi film Son of Babylon and is currently developing a slate of powerful Middle Eastern theme feature films, including Little Bides, filmed in Morocco, outside of Marrakech.