Dwight E. Brooks is Dean of the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University. Prior to coming to ZU in 2018, Brooks was vice dean of Hofstra University’s (New York) Lawrence Herbert School of Communication. Brooks is an accomplished academic leader in fostering shared governance, international education, and student success.
One of the true joys of Brooks’ role as dean is his work with ZUMEFF. The student film festival experience is rewarding: “Where else do I get the chance to work with so many talented student storytellers, professional filmmakers, Her Excellency the President, and so many colleagues, supporters, and friends?” In this vein, a special thank you goes to twofour54, ZUMEFF’s major sponsor and supporter.
Brooks is especially excited about this year’s international ZUMEFF. We are blessed to have received 1,324 films from every corner of the world! We also have some exciting opportunities to expand our audience reach and try some new things for ZUMEFF 2022.
Filareti Kotsi, Ph. D., a recipient of a variety of recognition awards, is a Professor and the Graduate Programs Coordinator at the College of Communication and Media Sciences at the Dubai campus at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. Her expertise in international event management led Filareti to co-chair the Zayed University Middle East Film Festival (ZUMEFF). She is a member of the Association Marocaine des Recherche Académique sur le Cinéma (AMRAC) and was honored as the President of the Jury at the International Film Festival of Tétouan (Morocco). Filareti has organized several international tourism conferences and serves as the Middle East Coordinator for the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS). Her leadership of multidisciplinary teams in tourism and research grant captures resulted in nearly eighty published peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Filareti has a PhD in Communication from the Ecole Normale Supérieure (France), a Master’s and a Graduate Diploma from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), and a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). An advocate of Continuing Education, Filareti has just finished her Undergraduate Diploma in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford (UK). In addition, she was awarded the Advanced Writing Lives Certificate at the University of Oxford and the Oxford Executive Leadership Programme Certificate. Outside work, she is engaged in international humanitarian work and enjoys the art of photography.
Richard Cawood is an award-winning educator, creative media professional and photographer currently based in Dubai, UAE. Richard earned his bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Cincinnati’s prestigious College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP).
For the past 3 years, Richard has been the lead creative for ZUMEFF developing the brand direction and all digital marketing collateral including the official ZUMEFF website, all social media and video content.
Richard’s professional journey has been a seamless blend of three core expertise areas: teaching, creative leadership and photography. The ability to merge these 3 areas has given him a multidisciplinary edge that allows him to successfully adapt to every given creative challenge in the classroom, in the studio or with a client.
Professionally he has led creative technology-driven projects for clients such as Hulu, Virgin America and Nike, and managed a vibrant team of instructional technologists at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in his role as Instructional Technology Manager. In addition, in the creative space, Richard has created several large-scale digital productions for operas in the US and Europe. In the classroom, he is constantly changing the paradigm for students to learn how to be critical thinkers and creative content producers using digital tools.
With his camera, he seeks to make the viewer aware of the beauty and details in the places, landscapes and people he shoots. His portrait photography is described as emotive minimalism. He seeks to convey a deep connection and engagement with the model to capture natural and raw emotions. His photography work has been published in several magazines (both print and online) and was recently recognized by renowned lens manufacturer Zeiss in their globally recognized photography blog, LensPire.
Richard is also interested in giving back to the creative community. He is a core member of the CreativeMornings Dubai team. CreativeMornings is a global movement focused on bringing creatives of all disciplines together for monthly creative lectures.
Andrea Juhasz is Sr. Academic Administrative Officer within the College of Communication and Media Sciences (CCMS) at Zayed University and simply put, Andrea is the glue that keeps everything together within the college, and that includes ZUMEFF!
Motaz H Matar is an award-winning film and television director and screenwriter, holding an MFA degree in Cinematic Arts and an additional Master of Arts degree in serial storytelling from the International Film School of Cologne, Germany in December 2018 where he was the only Arab enrolled in the third cohort of the Serial Storytelling Master’s program in 2019.
In 2012 Matar was awarded the Golden Award at the PromaxBDA Arabia for a television teaser he wrote and directed. In 2017 Matar’s debut feature film “Slingshot” was an official selection in the Mediterranean Film Festival in Cannes and the Culcutta International Film Festival.
Matar is the founder of the first Arabic Chat Fiction application “Hakawaty” that aims to reinvent the way stories are consumed in the Arab world in the light of the 21st century.
Matar’s research areas focus on screenwriting and dramaturgy with a focus on: “Obstacles facing distribution of Arabic TV narratives”. Matar is in the process of completing his textbook on Dramaturgy. The textbook is written in Arabic and will be available to university students and academics late 2021.
Matar is currently in the development of several Serial TV concepts and Feature films and is currently in the pre-production of his feature 2d animated film “The Two Seas” which is to be completed in July 2022.
Rochelle Williams is a digital media specialist teaching digital design & photography, media law & media management. She has taught at University level in the US, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. She is a freelance designer who has worked for various agencies & organizations in South Africa, Hong Kong and the UAE. Rochelle designed & implemented a pre-school curriculum that gives children a strong foundation for future linguistic, kinesthetic & mathematical development. She has published The Hungry Camel, her first children’s book.
Many thanks to Rochelle for all her work on coordinating and prepping our talented MC’s for this year’s #ZUMEFF2022.
Dr. Azza Ahmed is a full professor of Communication at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. Before that, she worked as a professor and assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Abu Dhabi University. She was an associate professor at the United Arab Emirates University.
Azza supervised and directed the production of two TV News programs at Abu Dhabi University. She trained and supervised the establishing crew of The Nile TV International channel at the Egyptian Radio and TV Union in which she directed two TV programs. She worked as a freelance producer, director, and editor in the TV Journalism Center at the AUC, Nile TV, and the BBC bureau in Egypt. Azza received a recognition certificate from Al- Habib Al Redah Media Creativity Award in UAE for serving as a judge and organizing committee member.
Azza received distinguished research, service, and teaching awards and recognition throughout her academic and professional years of experience. Prof. Azza got her Ph.D. in Television studies from Cairo University. Her M.A. was in Journalism and Communication from Adham Center for TV Journalism at The American University in Cairo. She completed her Graduate Diploma in Television Journalism and received a Professional Certificate in Television Production from the AUC.
Azmat Rasul (PhD, Florida State University) is an Assistant Professor in Integrated Strategic Communication in the College of Communication and Media Sciences, Zayed University (ZU), UAE. Before joining ZU, he served as an Assistant Professor at the University of the Punjab, Exchange Professor/Lecturer in the Department of Communication Arts at Valdosta State University, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow and co-founder of the South Asian Media and Cultural Studies Program in the College of Communication at Florida State University.
Prior to entering academia, Rasul had worked in advertising and government public relations. His research focuses on the effects of strategic communication campaigns on attitudes, uses and effects of entertainment and social media, political economy of global entertainment industries, media portrayal of gender, and media regulation and policy.
His work has appeared in journals such Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Asian Journal of Communication, International Communication Gazette, Internet Research, The Communication Review, Communication, Culture and Critique, and Journal of Intercultural Communication Research. He was selected to receive several academic awards including Top Paper Awards (Mass Communication Division, ICA, 2015 and Mass Communication Division, NCA, 2016), the FSU Academic Leadership Award in 2015, the Mathew Grindy Prize for teaching excellence in 2014, and the College of Communication and Information Leadership Award in 2013.
William McCarthy is an Assistant Professor in Tourism and Media Production and Storytelling in the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University. For ZUMEFF, he assists Motaz Matar with the coordination and organization of the film submissions. His primary area of academic research explores the historical and contemporary intersection of media corporations and audiences/participants at places and non-places, and on online platforms, including Usenet, web discussion boards, and social media. His research also examines semiotics, branding, audience, experiential media, and leisure studies, and his work has been published in journals such as Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Social Semiotics, Semiotica, Tourism Geographies, and Journal of Leisure Research. He is currently working on an article analyzing the semiotics of time orientation of the 192 country pavilions at Expo 2020. He has presented at numerous international conferences including the International Communication Association. He was awarded a Zayed University Outstanding Faculty Award in 2011 and an Outstanding Service Award in 2016. He is a member of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA).