Riyadh: The Arab world’s roots in detailed storytelling means that the region is well suited to making movies, according to Hussein Fakhri, chief commercial officer and executive producer for Katara Studios, and the latest guest on The Mayman Show.
Founded in 2018, the Doha-based production powerhouse is behind regionally iconic projects such as the fantasy short film “The Lost Chapter of Kelileh & Demneh” and the ceremonies for the 2022 FIFA Arab Cup.
“Storytelling, I think, is in our DNA, as Arabs generally, right? We come from a long line of storytellers; it is really part of who we are,” Fakhri said. “For me, the sort of career advancement was very much evolutionary, organic, as I come from an advertising and marketing background.”
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Before entering the world of filmmaking and immersive storytelling, Hussein started out in Dublin, Ireland, pioneering digital advertising in a market far from his cultural roots. Hussein left the marketing agency life and now leads Katara’s mission to produce bold, meaningful stories that resonate with a global audience with an unapologetically Arab perspective.
