Khadijah Kudsi is a filmmaker and children’s book author. She will speak about her filmmaking experience and writing books.
Her discussion will be moderated by Dr. Ahmed Al Shoaibi, Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Services.
Khadijah’s Bio:
Khadijah Kudsi is a filmmaker and children’s book author. Her passion has always been to write stories and create imaginary worlds of wonder. This passion for writing also led to creating film scripts, which contain rich and entertaining content for audiences. In 2013 she graduated from the New York Film Academy, earning a diploma in filmmaking. Which was followed by a course in screenplay writing at the same Academy in 2018. Since then, Khadijah has written, directed and produced short films, documentaries, theatre performances and a web series. Her documentary films focus on social and community issues that resonate globally. These films include such topics as stuttering, autism and the life of orphans in Nepal. Through her work, she is always eager to highlight humanitarian issues that focus on the courage shown by individuals and groups. Khadijah’s documentary film highlighting stuttering, ‘Just Another Accent,’ competed at the Malmo Arab Film Festival. In 2016, four films she had worked on were screened at the Short Film Corner at Cannes Film Festival. Her film credits as a director include ‘Just Another Accent’, ‘Peaks of Emotions’, ‘Suhail’, ‘Sesame Street short film.’ She has also worked on numerous TV advertisements and film collaborations as producer and assistant director.
Khadijah also holds two bachelor degrees: ‘Management of Information Systems’ from Ajman University, UAE and King Abdul University in Saudi Arabia. She has co-authored numerous children’s books, including ‘Noura’s Garden,’ which proved to be a huge hit and was produced for the Abu Dhabi Education Council. ‘Noura’s Garden’ was developed into a seven-part book series, published between 2010 and 2012. In 2015 and 2018, Khadijah published two children’s books that focus on financial literacy and the history of UAE money and charity giving: ‘UAE Old and New Money’ and ‘What Can I do with my Dirhams’. Her work experience includes working with children at book fairs, schools and the Children’s Library at Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation. Khadijah was born in Taif, Saudi Arabia and moved to the UAE in 1998 after marrying her Emirati husband. She currently lives in Abu Dhabi with her husband and their four children. Khadijah is also involved in charity and volunteer work and is a big believer in giving back to the community. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling and singing in a choir.