films

Film is where I started, and it still shapes how I write — scene first, explanation later, and only if it earns its placeM H Matar’s working notes
.

My soul cannot think without a picture.

Echoes of Tantura§

short film — trailer out now

Haifa, 22 May 1948. A Palestinian law student has his bags packed for Cairo and a train ticket in his pocket. He picks up the receiver for one last goodbye to his grandfather in the coastal village of Tantura, and the call turns into a nightmare.

When that call reveals the imminent destruction of his ancestral home, he has to choose between his own survival and returning to defend the legacy of his family’s village.

watch the trailer on Vimeo →

Where the Two Seas Meet§

animated short drama — available to rent or buy

Yassin is pushed by his brother Bader into a job translating Arabic letters for the Museum of Seville — cover for a plan to steal a tapestry and settle a score over their Andalusian heritage.

It gets complicated when Yassin falls for Mira, the curator, and the letters turn out to be Ibn Arabi’s, about the secrets of the universe and spiritual awakening. Guns drawn and a chase underway, Yassin has to decide for himself what standing up for an identity actually means.

watch it →

the score§

The music was recorded in Istanbul. Working with players in the room rather than a library of samples changed the film — you can hear the space they were sitting in, and the picture cut itself differently once the score existed.

listen to the album →

also§

• Documentary short (2025)
• Commercial work (2024–)

what I do on set§

Writing and directing, mostly. I’ve also produced when a project needed it more than it needed another opinion behind the monitor.

working together§

I take on a small number of projects a year, usually ones where the story isn’t figured out yet. If that’s where you are, that’s the interesting part.

Showreel and full credits available on request — email me.