Rand Abou Fakher is a Syrian filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist based between Berlin and Brussels. Her work brings intimate experience into dialogue with collective histories through a poetic and sensory approach to image, sound and time. Moving between documentary and fiction, memory and dreams, she follows the emotional rhythms of her characters, attending to gestures, silences and the traces the past leaves in the body. Tenderness, vulnerability and imagination emerge as ways of relating to one another and confronting the structures that shape our lives. She trained in classical flute in Damascus before beginning her practice in audiovisual arts in Brussels. Her short films Braided Love (2018) and So We Live (2020) premiered at Sarajevo Film Festival and Berlinale Shorts respectively. So We Live went on to win several international awards, including at Oscar-qualifying festivals, and was later featured on the Criterion Channel. Her first feature, Why Do I See You in Everything? (2026), a hybrid documentary she directed, wrote and produced, had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. She is currently developing her first fiction feature, On the Way to Forgive I Forgot Myself, which took part in Torino ScriptLab 2024. Her practice also extends to acting, music and live performance. She performs as a vocalist and flautist in Above Our Waters, an audiovisual performance series created with Dhia Douss and Qusay Awad. She made her screen acting debut in a leading role in the short film A Tenderness, which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. Alongside her artistic work, Rand is a film programmer and script consultant. She curates for ALFILM in Berlin, programmes for the inaugural edition of the Damascus Short Film Festival 2027, and works in coordination and public relations for Sweida Cinema Club.
FILMS
* WHY DO I SEE YOU IN EVERYTHING? *
Feature hybrid Documentary
Premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2026
International festival selection
International Film Festival Uruguay 2026
Gent Film Festival 2026
Pink Screens Brussels 2026
ALFILM - Arab Film Festival Berlin 2026
Rotterdam Arab Film Festival 2026
THEATRICAL RELEASE
Wolf Kino - Berlin
Spoutnik Cinema - Geneva
Cinema Bellevaux - Lausanne
De Roma - Antwerp
* ON THE WAY TO FORGIVE I FROGOT MYSELF *
Debut Fiction in Development
Torino Script Lab 2024
* SO WE LIVE *
Premiered at the international competition of Berlinale 70th
Oscars Qualifying Awards Leuven Short Film Festival & Brussels Short Film Festival. Jury Prize London Film Week & Uşak Winged Seahorse Short Fılm Festıval & Gabès Cinéma Fen Festival & Taxco International lm festival & Mentor Arabia & Nordic Youth Film festival & Mercy To Universe international short lm festival
Channels
The Criterion Collection Channel - US and Canada
Canvas - Belgium
International festival selection
Tromso international Film festival - Norway
Guanajuato Int’l Film Festival - Mexico
PyeongChang Int’l Peace Film Festival - South Korea
Festival du Film franco-arabe Noisy-le-sec - France
Friss Huss Budapest - Hungary
Karama Human Rights Film Festival - Jordan
Karama Human Rights Film Festival - Lebanon
Sundsvall Film Festival - Sweden
Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg - Germany
Toronto Arab Film Festival - Canada
World Cinema Amsterdam - Netherlands
Festival du Film Court de Villeurbanne - France
Cinemamed festival - Belgium
Bogotá International Independent Film Fair - Colombia
Beirut Cinema Days - Lebanon
Aflam Festival - France
Bahrain Film Festival - Bahrain
Saaed Meetings - Morocco
Tromso international Film festival - Norway
Mercy To Universe International Short Film Festival - Turkey
* BRAIDED LOVE *
Premiered in Sarajevo Film festival 24th Edition
International film festival selection:
Ghent Film Festival - Belgium
Kunstenfestivaldesarts - Belgium
Malta Festival - Poland
MOOOV Film Festival - Belgium
Afrika Film Festival - Belgium
* EXHIBITIONS *
2024 Takla foundation - Bremen/Germany.
2024 Beursschouwburg Multidisciplinary Installation - Brussels/Belgium
2019 As a part of 20 years of S.M.A.K. Museum - Gent/Belgium