Nasri Atallah

Nasri Atallah (born 12 November 1982)[1] is a British-Lebanese author, producer, television host[2] and media entrepreneur. He is one of the co-founders of Last Floor Productions and a regular contributor to GQ Middle East.

Nasri Atallah
Atallah in 2013
Born
Nasri Atallah

(1982-11-12) 12 November 1982
London, England
NationalityBritish and Lebanese
Education
OccupationWriter, Producer
Notable work
Our Man in Beirut
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2015)​
Websitenasriatallah.com

Biography

Nasri Atallah was born and grew up in London, United Kingdom, where he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle. His parents, Samir Atallah and May Francis, are both British-Lebanese and were living in London at the time. His father, Samir Atallah, is a prominent Arab author, journalist and thinker, and the winner of many awards for his decades of contribution to Arab literature.[3][4]

Atallah moved to Beirut for the first time in 1997, finished school and read politics at the American University of Beirut.[5] He holds a Masters in International politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies,[6] where he completed a dissertation on the Deterritorialization of Identity Through Transnational Media.

Career

Atallah started is career at the United Nations Development Programme, then moved into energy research, later joining a wealth management firm[7] before moving into advertising, content and production in 2009.

During a brief stint at J. Walter Thompson as a conceptual copywriter, Atallah wrote a blog entitled Our Man in Beirut which earned him notoriety amongst the Lebanese community both in Lebanon and abroad.[8][7] His essays unpacking the difficulties of navigating Lebanese culture while having grown up abroad drew him both fans and detractors. The blog's success led to a publishing deal with Turning Point books,[9] and the print version was released in December 2011 in Beirut, with book signings at Waterstones[10] in London and at Livre Paris[11]

From 2011 to 2017, Atallah worked at as Head of Media at a creative agency focused on culture from the Middle East, across music, publishing and film.[12][13] There, he launched the career[14] of the prominent Lebanese blues rock revival duo, The Wanton Bishops, through his role as their manager.[15] He has also worked with Egyptian electro-singer and producer Bosaina, Montreal indie band Wake Island,[16][17] and krautrock band Lumi.

Since 2018, he has been focused on creative projects in film and television as a producer and screenwriter, as well as continuing to write creative non-fiction and fiction.[18] He is represented by Aoife Rice at United Agents.[19]

Last Floor Productions

In late 2019, he co-founded Last Floor Productions with two longtime friends, Mashrou' Leila band member and composer Firas Abou Fakher and writer and Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts screenwriting professor Daniel Habib.[20] Last Floor Productions is focused on the creation of genre film & television, centered on telling stories about Arabs around the world.[21] The company's first production, Al Shak (Doubt),[22] was written, shot and released entirely during the early phase of the coronavirus lockdown of 2020.[23] It was produced as a Shahid Original for the leading streaming service launched by MBC Group.

GQ Middle East

Since 2018, Atallah has been a contributor for GQ Middle East.[24] He has profiled leading Arab creatives like filmmaker Nadine Labaki, Moroccan rapper Issam, Syrian poet Adunis, Lebanese indie band Mashrou' Leila, pop star Ragheb Alama. He has also written essays, such as his account of the August 4th 2020 explosion in Beirut entitled "Inside Beirut's Broken Heart".[25]

Other Work

Atallah has also written for various publications, including The Guardian,[26] GQ Magazine,[27] Time Out, Brownbook,[28] Little White Lies, Monocle and L'Orient-Le Jour.

He is also the co-host of the Bootleg Magic podcast with Alya Mooro and a regular guest on the BBC World Service's The Arts Hour with Nikki Bedi.

Filmography
Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
2015RKODNoNoExecutive
2020AzizaNoYesYesshort documentary
CharmlandNoYesYesdocumentary
DoubtNoYesExecutivealso co-creator
FixerNoNoExecutive
Apple: Illuminating Creativity SeriesNoYesExecutive

Books
  • A Lost Summer: Postcards From Lebanon (Contributor), Saqi Books, 2008 (London, UK) ISBN 978-0863566868
  • Our Man in Beirut, Turning Point Books, 2011 (Beirut, Lebanon) ISBN 978-9953021102
  • Share This Book (Contributor), SHARE Foundation, 2013 (Belgrade, Serbia), Independently Published[29]
  • Beyrouth, Chroniques et détours by Mashallah News and AMI Collective (Foreword), Tamyras, 2014 (Paris, France) ISBN 9782360860517[30]

Personal life

Atallah is married to award-winning Lebanese fashion designer Nour Hage.[31] The couple have been together since 2013.

References
  1. Interview in BMI Voyager Magazine http://www.nasriatallah.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Nasri_Atallah_BMI_Voyager.jpg Archived 6 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Nasri Atallah | United Agents". www.unitedagents.co.uk.
  3. Arab Media Forum – Samir Atallah http://www.arabmediaforum.ae/en/speakers/2013/speaker/samir-atallah-13.aspx
  4. "President Sleiman awarded a medal of appreciation to journalist Samir Atallah". Presidency of the Republic of Lebanon. 11 June 2013. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013.
  5. "American University of Beirut's Blogger Community on the Rise | Beirut News Network". Archived from the original on 6 July 2013.
  6. An Alternative Asset: A review of Nasri Atallah's 'Our Man in Beirut' http://thedisgraceofgod.blogspot.fr/2012/01/alternative-asset-review-of-nasri.html
  7. "AltCity – Nasri Atallah". Archived from the original on 6 July 2013.
  8. CV on LinkedIn http://uk.linkedin.com/in/nasriatallah
  9. Popular Beirut Blogger Releases Book http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Dec-03/155947-popular-beirut-blogger-releases-book.ashx
  10. Waterstones https://www.facebook.com/ourmaninbeirut/posts/316940858348166
  11. Le Liban au Salon Du Livre Paris http://www.antoineonline.com/Article.aspx?id=37
  12. Lebanon Goes Digital By Alex Young | The Media Line | http://www.themedialine.org/news/lebanon-goes-digital/
  13. Keeward Team http://keeward.com/keeward-team Archived 21 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  14. The Wanton Bishops at La Boule Noire Paris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrROA0y8-xs
  15. The Wanton Bishops Story on Keeward http://keeward.com/the-wanton-bishops/
  16. Wake Island on Keeward http://keeward.com/portfolio/wake-island/
  17. Meeting Wake Island With Nasri Atallah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbFW2JSG380&html5=1
  18. Faber Academy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiPh5DqPxPc&t=10s&ab_channel=FaberAcademy
  19. Nasri Atallah | United Agents | https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/nasri-atallah-1
  20. Un trio libanais qui veut innover sur le petit écran | L'Orient Le Jour https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1228232/un-trio-libanais-qui-veut-innover-sur-le-petit-ecran.html
  21. 'Everything happened through a screen': How three friends created an entire TV show while housebound https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/television/everything-happened-through-a-screen-how-three-friends-created-an-entire-tv-show-while-housebound-1.1041192
  22. Doubt (2020) IMDb https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12418118/ratings?ref_=tturv_ql_4
  23. The Homemade Music of 'Al Shak': From Soundtrack to Spotify Playlis
  24. GQ Middle East Nasri Atallah author page https://www.gqmiddleeast.com/author/nasri-atallah
  25. Inside Beirut's Broken Heart | https://www.gqmiddleeast.com/Beirut-explosion-Inside-Beiruts-Broken-Heart
  26. An insider's cultural guide to Beirut: 'a beautiful, rowdy, intoxicated mess' | https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jan/04/insider-cultural-guide-beirut-beautiful-rowdy-intoxicated-mess
  27. GQ India https://twitter.com/aratiGQ/status/308859612029935616
  28. Brownbook Magazine | The Falafel Issue Contributors | http://brownbook.me/the-falafel-issue/
  29. SHARE Foundation | Publications | http://www.shareconference.net/en/news/share-book Archived 3 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  30. "«Beyrouth, chroniques et détours»". RFI. 25 April 2014.
  31. Less is More | A Magazine (Aishti) by Pip Usher http://blog.aishti.com/24819-2/
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