Leila Kanaan

Leila Kanaan

Leila Kanaan is the youngest music video director and filmmaker in the Middle East. At the age of twenty-four, her sensitivity and capacity of mood creation and innovation made her one of the most demanded directors in the Arab World.

Her Background

Leila was born in Sidon (South Lebanon), from a doctor father and a household mother. Since her very young age, Leila used to pass her time belly dancing and sewing canvas. When she was thirteen, she used to sit on her house’s balcony for hours, watching cars passing by and trying to imagine the stories of their drivers and the people inside those cars. At this age, she got interested in photography, collecting stamps and chocolate packages.Leila also used to spend a lot of time watching films on TV, but she mainly liked Tex Avery’s cartoons, reading comic books and taking her dancing lessons.After graduating from school with a Lebanese and a French baccalaureate, Leila decided to enter IESAV (Institute of Theatrical and Audiovisual Studies).During her four years of study, Leila gained experience by working as assistant director, sound engineer, camera operator and editor on short films, TV spots, TV clips and documentaries.

Her Career

As soon as she finished her studies at university, Leila found herself rapidly working on her first music video for singer Bashar Darwish. The very low budget video wasn’t a smash but was unique enough to catch the attention of Issa Ghandour, for whom she directed a very emotional video for the song “Minsafer”. Leila’s first hit was then Joe Ashkar’s “Waynik” TV clip, that truly introduced the new upraising director to all singers and common people.Leila was the first director in the field to show female characters in a provocative yet sensual way. She was also the first to show strong dominant women in Arabic videos. Another huge hit was Yara’s “Twassa Fey” video that made Leila best known in all the Arab World and especially in Egypt for her sensitivity and her talent to show emotions by concentrating on small details and transforming singers into real actors. Both videos were heavily broadcasted on Arabic channels. Another hit was Madeleine Matar’s “Bahebbak wa Dari” where Leila completely transformed Madeleine’s look and attitudes and presented her as the new blonde “femme fatale” of the region. The clip was highly praised in the Gulf region and gave Leila more credibility.Another stylish hit video for renowned singer Diana Haddad and Algerian international star Khaled showed Leila’s capacity in dealing not only with classic romantic songs but also with pure Rai music.
Myriam Fares’ “Mosh Ananiya” also made a lot of buzz. Myriam’s appearance surprised all the viewers: For the first time she wasn’t dancing and the focus was on her acting skills. The plot and the video’s subject were daring and touched sensitive viewers. Lots of emotions were portrayed, enhanced by a beautiful esthetic picture. The cinematography and the art direction of the video stood out and were applauded. Once again Leila proved that she takes artists to another level.Leila’s latest video was for renowned diva Haifa Wehbe for the song “Ma t’oulch lhad”. Daring, provocative and controversial, the video became the talk of the region. She was the first to portray Haifa in a very glamorous, elegant, sensual and classy way. The art direction of the video was signed Ivan Maussion and the costumes were created by renowned designer Nicolas Gebran especially for the video. Somewhere between classical ballet, vintage pin-up girls, Broadway and Las Vegas, the collaboration of the two ladies gave birth to a sophisticated unordinary video. Leila just finished working on Haifa’s video dedicated to kids. The cost of the video is said to be the highest budget ever spent on an Arabic music video (300 000 $). Costumes were designed by International designer Zuhair Mrad and post-production was executed in Paris.

Leila became a star maker. Her trademark is simplicity, sensuality, emotions depiction and mood creation: In all her videos, she creates a world of her own by mixing vintage objects from different places and times and working on unexpected and new effects and image treatment. Leila’s also to be credited for editing her own music videos, with a very particular sense of the music.Her style grabbed the attention of production houses and there she started in the commercials field.

On another hand, Leila directed two short films in parallel to music videos.Her shorts “My Father’s House” and “After the storm” were shown in international festivals all over the world and won several awards. In “My Father’s House”, Leila depicts her native country and parents’ home as an oriental madhouse, where obsessions, the fullness and intensity of life, fears of war and downfall all come together in a Babylonian-like fashion. The short was credited to be close to Salvador Dali, Federico Fellini and Emir Kusturica’s style in the Potsdam film museum. With breathtaking Super 16mm shots, an original soundtrack and yet with not one word, “After the Storm” is probably one of the most powerful testimonials that followed the highly destructive war between Israel and the Hezbollah in July-August 2006.

Her Music Videos

- “Sayyad”- Bashar Darwish - 2004- “Mensafer” – Issa Ghandour – 2004- “Waynik” – Joe Ashkar – 2005- “Al Khata” – Rashed Al Fares – 2005- “Bahebbak” – Ayman Al Atar – 2005- “Twassa Fey” – Yara – 2005- “Bahebak wa Dari” – Madeleine Matar – 2005- “Mas & Louly” – Diana Haddad & Khaled – 2006- “Aadi” – Diana Haddad – 2006- “Friendship” – Johnson & Johnson – 2006- “Ma T’oulch Lhad” – Haifa Wehbe – 2006 - “Kelmet Hob” – Sofia Marrikh – 2007 - “Mosh Ananiya” – Myriam Fares – 2008- “Baby Be Good” – Haifa Wehbe – 2008 (Unreleased yet)

Her Films

- “My Father’s House” – Short film, 26 min – 2003- “After the storm” – Short film, 5min – 2006

External links

[http://www.leilakanaan.com] (Official Site) [http://www.leilakanaan.blogspot.com]