independent Filmmaker
El Qassabi
Bassem
Bassem ElQassabi is an Egyptian independent Filmmaker. He was born in 1983 in Cairo. He spent part of his youth in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Ever since he was a child he was fascinated by films and cinema & its ability to create a parallel reality.
Living in Saudi, a country with no cinema theaters, he started his career working in the creative field in the hope this will get him closer to filmmaking one day. He worked in advertising and publishing, for almost a decade where he grew to become a production manager. Bassem kept his passion alive and was waiting for the right moment. Bassem had the chance in (2014) to work as a training assistant director for “The 48-hours Film Project” which was an intensive two-day film competition. In 2015 he became a creative assistant producer. This was his turning point and the moment of no return and decided to pursue his career in filmmaking and move to Cairo.
He received further experience by attending “The Zat Studio's Directing and Script-Writing workshops” alongside the director “Nadine Labky”. Afterward, he continued his career as an assistant director for more than six short films. By the end of 2016, Bassem had a chance to work as a producer in a documentary feature film "In the street". In 2017 he worked as an assistant Egyptian producer for Robert Bosch Stiftung’s award-winning short film script "The Trap" which was selected & nominated for Cannes Critics Week in 2019.
Bassem continues to create films that evoke feelings of self-connection & reflection.
Currently, he is working on a new journey of writing his latest short film script "Don't Kill the Mosquito" and renewing his true passion as a director.
His ongoing passion and love for cinema led him to work as an executive producer for a couple of short films.
His film “Moment” was selected for the “Alexandria Film Festival '' and “Masr Dot Bokra''. It was astonishing to attend both festivals for his 1st trial as a director and Cinematographer. In 2021 his short film "What We Don't See'' was released. It was a challenging adventure as he worked as a producer, scriptwriter, and cinematographer to portray his study and passion for the cinema to this new experience which he was pleased to be part of. “What We Don’t See'' was screened at Festival del Cinema di Cefalu - Italy, Clapperboard Golden Festival - Brazil, Lift-off Global - London, and Roaa Festival - Egypt. Moreover, “What We Don’t See” was nominated for Cinematography in Pinewood Studio.