Joe Balass

Joe Balass (born 1966 in Baghdad, Iraq) is an Iraqi Canadian film maker.

Of Jewish heritage,[1] Balass is most known for Nana, George and Me, which is an autobiographical video by a young, gay Iraqi Jewish filmmaker who takes a charmingly unconventional look at three Iraqi Jewish lives; that of the filmmaker, his 92-year-old Nana and his 73-year-old friend, George. It was screened at the Castro Theatre.[1]

Balass escaped from Iraq with his family at age four, and eventually settled in Canada. He has previously worked as a freelance editor, photographer and producer. He has directed a number of short films and videos including; Funhouse, Caroline, Tattoo Needle Pricks, and On a Very Violet Night in the Apartements Daphne, which won a Golden Apple Award at the New England Film & Video Festival (NEFVF]] in Oakland.[2]

His 2008 film Baghdad Twist is a National Film Board of Canada documentary about the disappearance of Iraq's Jewish community though his own family's history. The filmmaker's mother recounts their family's experiences, and the film is illustrated with Balass family home movies and photos.[3]

In 2013, he directed the documentary La longueur de l'alphabet avec Naïm Kattan about the Canadian writer of Iraqi Jewish origin Naïm Kattan.

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Joe Balass Canadian Iraqi Jew". sfjff.org. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
  2. ↑ Mini Bio
  3. ↑ Loreto, Frank (January 22, 2010). "Baghdad Twist" (REVIEW). Canadian Materials (Manitoba Library Association) XVI (19). ISSN 1201-9364. Retrieved 27 August 2012.

External links