Rakan Mayasi

Rakan Mayasi is an independent Palestinian filmmaker, currently based between Brussels and Beirut. He grew up in Amman, Jordan and then went on to study Cinema, Theatre and Psychology in Lebanon. He later received film training with Abbas Kiarostami in South Korea at the Asian Film Academy. He has an MA in Filmmaking from LUCA School of Arts in Belgium and has written, directed and produced several short films. His previous film ROUBAMA was an official selection at the Locarno Film Festival in 2012. His short film BONBONÉ (acquired by Netflix worldwide) tackles the phenomenon of Palestinian sperm smuggling from Israeli jails and has world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017 - it is the recipient of 35 Best Short Awards at international film festivals, namely Küstendorf Film and Music Festival. Rakan recently underwent film training with Béla Tarr in Budapest where he conceived a film in 7 days, KÉS. TRUMPETS IN THE SKY is a short film exploring Cinema as a contemplative medium of visual poetry, metaphor and mythology. It won the honorable mention for Best International Short Film at TIFF 2021 in Canada, where it world premiered (acquired by France 3). Rakan’s latest short film is a political fantasy-thriller entitled THE KEY that is centred around the Palestinian right of return. It world premiered at SXSW Film Festival in Austin, USA 2023 (acquired by Canal+ internationale). YESTERDAY THE EYE DIDN’T SLEEP is his first feature film shot entirely in the Bekaa Valley with non-professional actors and without a script. It follows a family triangle searching for a missing girl, focusing on space, time, metaphor and poetry it is selected at Cannes Film Festival ‘Un Certain Regard’ 2026. His second feature film project THE PASSPORT (development) was selected to participate at La Fabrique at Cannes Film Festival 2025.