Walid ’ s success continues with ‘ Kinetic Edinburgh ’
14 QMYOU / Creativity & Culture
Filmmaker ’ s work is a global festival hit
QMU MEDIA LECTURER and filmmaker , Walid Salhab enjoyed a string of successes over the summer and autumn with his award winning film ‘ Bra-et Al Rouh ’ ( Innocence of the Spirit ). The low budget short film made a huge impact on the international festival circuit . It was officially selected at festivals in California , Cannes , New York , Cape Cod , Teheran and Vegas and has , to date , scooped six awards .
Dr Richard Butt , Dean of Arts , Social Sciences and Management at QMU , said : “ We are delighted that Walid ’ s work is being recognised in this way . This is also excellent news for our film and media students who will benefit from Walid ’ s achievements – in terms of his recently acquired knowledge of the international film festival circuit and the professional contacts that he is making at these events . All of this experience is being fed directly into Walid ’ s teaching practice .” ❒
Walid ’ s success continues with ‘ Kinetic Edinburgh ’
THE ‘ KINETIC EDINBURGH ’ films - two stunning time lapse videos of the Scottish capital - have not only become global internet hits , but have continued to strengthen QMU ’ s international reputation for Film and Media .
Whilst having a break from international film festival submissions , Walid found time to produce two short time lapse / stop motion films which show various Edinburgh landmarks to stunning effect , including QMU . The films , which were painstakingly filmed over a period of months , were used as research exercises allowing Walid to trial new visual filmmaking techniques .
Attracting the attention of locals and Scottish expats , ‘ Kinetic Edinburgh I ’ has now achieved over 473,000 views on You Tube and 17,200 on Vimeo , but the visual impact of Scotland ’ s capital in winter has seen ‘ Kinetic Edinburgh II ’ hits rise to over three million on YouTube .
Agencies are seeing the promotional value of the films , and organisations including Visit Scotland and Marketing Edinburgh ( the company behind the Inspiring Capital brand ) have been keen to use the striking videos to promote Edinburgh to global audiences . It has also brought Walid ’ s work to the attention of other filmmakers , Scottish agencies and a new international audience .
You can view ‘ Kinetic Edinburgh I ’ at www . youtube . com / watch ? v = yrpLH0eottc and ‘ Kinetic Edinburgh II ’ at www . youtube . com / watch ? v = Jh3kcIDG434 ❒
14 QMYOU / Creativity & Culture