Bio

Ahlam Hassan is a writer, director and producer for the screen and stage. Much of her work focuses on using humour to subvert the rules of the everyday, often beginning with rap improvisation. She holds a BA in architecture design and performance/directing from the University of Toronto where she also received the Jackman Humanities Scholar in Residence Award for her contributions to Professor Maria Assif’s research project New Voices, New Vistas: Contemporary Arab Women Writers Database.

In 2021, she has directed the short film Missing Little Jamaica for Free Up! on CBC Gem, co-wrote and co-directed BATHROOM BREAK for Soulpepper Theatre’s Queer Futures 2099 and What Are You Supposed To Be? for the Toronto Fringe Festival. Ahlam also participated in Toronto Arab Film’s Nahda Film Lab and was selected for the inaugural image + nation StoryLab/ histoires queer contemporaines, where she is developing new work.