Bashar Shbib

Bashar Shbib
Born (1959-06-25) June 25, 1959 (age 65)
Damascus, Syria
NationalityCanadian
Alma materConcordia University
Occupation(s)Film director, producer, actor, screenwriter
Years active1983–present
Children3

Bashar Shbib (born June 25, 1959) is a Canadian independent film director and producer. He started making independent films in Montreal the 1980s and became one of the most prolific independent filmmakers in Canada[1] with over 30 films to his credit.

In the early 1990s, Shbib moved Los Angeles and directed his most successful films to date; Julia Has Two Lovers (1990) starring David Duchovny.

Biography

Bashar Shbib was born in Damascus; he emigrated to Canada with his parents and two brothers at an early age. He attended McGill University in Microbiology and Concordia University, where he earned a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Film Directing.[2]

His romantic comedies, Julia Has Two Lovers (1990) and Lana in Love (1991), were premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival panorama,[3] the 1991 Montreal World Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival. Another of his comedies, Love $ Greed (1991), was in competition at the 1991 Montreal World Film Festival. Crack Me Up (1991), Ride Me (1992), and Draghoula (1994) soon followed. Shbib's recent release(s), The Senses (five feature films), has been aired on Radio Canada and several television networks worldwide. Shbib has also created less commercial works such as Evixion (1986) and Clair obscur or The Stork (1988).

In 2002, Shbib was hired to design and realize the landscaping in and around the John Sowden House in Los Angeles.[4]

In 2013 he released the documentary film The Search for Evangeline, about his failed efforts to track down a copy of the historically significant 1914 film Evangeline.[5]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Matthew Hays, A new movie fest raise the question... do B-movies exist anymore, Montreal Mirror, Jan. 30th - Feb. 6th, 1997, p.11
  2. ^ Janis L. Pallister, The Cinema of Québec: Masters in Their Own House, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1995, p.445.
  3. ^ "Julia Has Two Lovers".
  4. ^ California Homes : Sowden House Archived 2013-12-14 at the Wayback Machine Architectural Digest
  5. ^ Richard Woodbury, "One of Canada's first feature films was mostly made in Nova Scotia, but you'll likely never see it". CBC News Nova Scotia, September 24, 2023.