Salam Alhassan

Born in 1975 in Aleppo, Syria, and currently based in Berlin, Salam Alhassan is an
animation director, illustrator, comics artist and musician. After graduating from Fine
Arts at Adham Ismail Institute in Damascus in 2000, he continued his artistic career
working with Syrian animation studios and publishing houses as well as freelancing,
contributing to a number of children's comic books and magazines. Alhassan has
directed two animated short films as a part of “Damascus. The Capital of Arab
Culture 2008” programme – "1:30 Damascus Time" and "Short Dream" – which were
then screened at many international festivals, such as Suse Festival in Tunisia,
Animated Beirut Festival in Lebanon, Forum Des Image in France and Stuttgart
Animation Festival in Germany. Alhassan was also actively participating with his
works in “Comic4Syria” – a Facebook page created by Syrian artists and activists in
aim to shed a light on issues the country is facing, especially in context of the Syrian
revolution – which were recently exhibited at the Angulime International Festival in
France. After his stay in Dubai, UAE, where he worked as a concept artist for Fannar
Animation Production Company, Alhassan moved to Berlin, Germany in 2015, where
he pursues his musical career as a percussionist. He is a part of many multinational
bands – such as Fattoush or Jamila and The Other Heroes – focused on merging
diverse musical genres and influences. In addition to the music career, Alhassan
works as a freelance graphic designer, currently working on a new animated short
film capturing stories of struggles of the Syrian war.