PEDRO HASROUNY
بيدرو حصروني

I'm a film director, writer, and photographer from Ain Ebel, a picturesque village in southern Lebanon. My first name (unusual back home) was suggested by a relative who had just returned from Brazil, where part of my extended family had emigrated decades earlier. Years later, I found myself living in Portugal, where the name suddenly felt common, adding a quiet layer of irony to my own story of cultural crossings.

After earning a degree in audiovisual arts in Beirut, I worked as an art director in film and advertising before shifting my focus to photography and filmmaking. As a photographer, I’ve shot for Architectural Digest, Marie Claire Arabia, renowned fashion designers, and the pop culture magazine JDEED.

I’m drawn to strong visual composition and intimate, personal themes, often inspired by lived experience. My creative work tends to explore gender representation, identity, and the expectations we carry.

My first independent short film, Autostrade Beirut (Beirut Highway), premiered at the Raindance Film Festival in 2021 and led to an Erasmus Mundus scholarship for a two-year master’s in film directing across Europe, through the KinoEyes program. As part of that program, I directed my graduation film, Uma Mãe Vai À Praia (A Mother Goes to the Beach), despite not speaking Portuguese at the time (I’m getting there) I also handled the production design, something I often do on my projects. The film received multiple awards, including Best Short Film at Sophia Estudante 2024 (Portuguese Academy of Cinema) and Best National Student Short at the 30th Caminhos do Cinema Português. It was also screened at festivals like Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival (Festival Curta Cinema), IndieLisboa, São Paulo International Short Film Festival, Concorto (Italy), and the Beijing International Short Film Festival.

I’m currently developing new projects between Portugal and Lebanon while pursuing a PhD in Media Arts and Communication at FilmEU European University (CICANT), funded by an FCT research grant. My research focuses on gender representation and social norms in the Middle East.