Ahmad Abdalla

Deceiving Time

Ahmad Abdalla (Egyptian, b.1978) is a filmmaker and photographer who has become an integral part of the new wave of independent cinema in the Arab world. Deceiving Time is his first photographic exhibition showcasing his work. Passionate about photography and collecting vintage cameras, he dives back into his archive of photographs taken between 2010 and 2021, both analogue and digital, and explores his fascination with the concept of time, or ‘zaman’, its chronological passage, its impermanence, and the questions the hierarchy we assign images from our recollection. By digitally layering variations of the same image he investigates how we recollect and remember. Each photographic print is made up of superimpositions of disregarded photographs; full of lines, movements and haziness, that feel auditive and full of sound. Visually, the work is full of references to both long exposure photography and to chronophotography (the systematic technique of taking a series of still pictures over a predetermined amount of time, like modern-day time-lapse photography, which captures a number of phases of movements in the same or group of photographs). His photographs are an exploration of everything that lays outside of the frame that was arbitrarily chosen to encapsulate a memory.

Abdalla is a widely screened, award-winning filmmaker who originally studied classical music before moving to film directing. His first feature film ‘Heliopolis’ (2009) was the first independent Egyptian film to be released in commercial cinemas in Egypt. Abdalla’s second film, ‘Microphone', was selected amongst the best 100 Arabic films in history by the Dubai Film Festival and has accumulated over 20 international awards. He also co-directed ’18 Days’, an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. His more recent productions are ‘Rags & Tatters’ (2013), ‘Decor’ (2015) and ‘EXT/Night’ (2018) both currently screening on Netflix. Abdalla’s films have participated in numerous festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival, London BFI, International Film Festival Singapore, and São Paulo International Film Festival. Abdalla’s films have been awarded the Golden award in Cinemed Film Festival of Montpellier, Golden Tanit in Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage, the Golden Tulip in Istanbul International Film Festival and the best director in many other regional and local festivals.

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