Biography
Born March 22, 1974 in Beirut, Hady Zaccak studied at the IESAV film school (Institute of Scenic, Audiovisual and Cinematographic Studies/Saint-Joseph University/Beirut). He holds a diploma in audiovisual studies (1997) and a Masters in cinema studies/film directing option (2001). He participated in film directing, editing and production workshops at FEMIS (Paris-1996), INSAS (Brussels-1999) and HFF Konrad Wolf (Potsdam-2007).
Since 1997, he has written and directed more than 20 documentaries, which have been broadcast on several television channels in Lebanon, the Arab world and Europe and presented/awarded at several film festivals around the world. Four of his films “Ya Omri-104 rides”, “A History Lesson”, “Marcedes” and “Kamal Jumblatt, witness and martyr” were also screened in theaters in Beirut. Hady Zaccak uses documentary to bring history to life, record the present, preserve memory and film metamorphoses and stagnation.
After writing a book in French on the global history of Lebanese cinema "Lebanese cinema: itinerary of a cinema towards the unknown" (1929-1996)" (Dar-el-Machreq -1997-Beirut), he continues his explorations the history of cinema in Lebanon with two documentaries "Lebanon through cinema" and "War cinema in Lebanon" (2003). Over the years, he has filmed the constant metamorphosis of Beirut "Beirut…Points of view" (2000) and "Taxi Beirut" (2011)) while discovering other Arab capitals "Sindbad in Baghdad" (2003) and "Taxi Sana'a" (2012). He investigated for television on the place of religion and religious groups in the Middle East from Lebanon, in Egypt and Iran “The Neo Missionaries” (2004) – “The Copts” (2004) – “The Shiites” (2005)
He studied the Palestinian cause with “1000 and 1000 Nights” (1999) and “Refugees for Life” (2006) and then documented the 2006 war in Lebanon and its social and environmental repercussions with 4 films: “The War of peace” (2007) - “The oil spill in Lebanon” (2007) - “The Shiite echoes of Lebanon” (2007) and “Sunni echoes of Lebanon” (2008). “Honeymoon 58” (2013) and “Kamal Jumblatt, witness and martyr” (2015). In 2017, he presented “Ya Omri” (“104 wrinkles”) where he addressed the theme of memory through the portrait of his grandmother. After several years of research, HZ published a new book “The Last Film Screening” in 2021, exposing the social, political and cultural history of Tripoli through its cinemas. His following films received awards: “Ya Omri” (“104 wrinkles”), “Kamal Jumblatt, witness and martyr”, “Marcedes”, “A history lesson”, “The oil spill in Lebanon”, “1000 and 1000 Nights"
Alongside his work as a filmmaker, Zaccak has been a professor at IESAV-Saint Joseph University of Beirut since 1998. He teaches courses in film writing and directing, cinema history and film genres. He also gives workshops on documentary and cinematographic culture in several regions of the Arab world (Lebanon-Jordan-Oman-Egypt) and in Africa (ISMA, Benin). Hady Zaccak is also the founder of ZAC films.
