Tareq Melfi

Tareq Alrowaili is a Saudi Arabian native film-maker. He graduated from King Saud University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. After obtaining his degree he founded his own marketing company 5Colors, which focuses on the melding of art and business to maximize occurrences of opportunistic exposure using photography, music and film as mediums. The art portion of this fusion inevitably grew outside the confines of marketing for businesses only as he began to find his voice in film-making. Due to the controversial themes of his films this voice was being stifled by societal traditions and taboos. Being fed up with creative constraints and seeing the Middle East portrayed negatively in Hollywood, he decided to focus his attention on becoming an independent film-maker.

This fervent ambition moved him to re-locate in 2011 to Los Angeles, California, the mecca of filmmaking. He is currently pursuing a film career as a director and cinematographer/photographer in Los Angeles with aspirations to work on films that lead him to features.

In 2012 he directed his first music video for the artist Crystal Web. This was also his first collaborative project with an American artist. The video was submitted to the World Music & Independent Film Festival and won best music video. This year he has completed a series of short films that will run in film festival circuits in Los Angeles and New York. He is currently in post-production of his film “Father’s Revenge” that has already garnered the attention of Rotana, NBC, Saudi Channel, and Saudi News sparking interviews. Working on these films afforded him the opportunity to become adept in operating the Red Epic, Arri, and the DSLR series of Canon cameras.

His goal is to continue to make compelling dramas, comedies and action films leading up to features that will shoot in the U.S as well as the Middle East. He wants to bring to an audience an image of Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and it’s people that will break down the walls of the generic preconceived notions that have come to be associated with the sight of a burka, shemagh or anything dealing with Middle Eastern culture. The subject matter of his films will not be limited to dealings in the Arabic world. There are many riveting stories to be told from the viewpoints of those without a voice or an outlet to express them.

Tareq is now in talks for future projects working with top-notch award winning producers, cinematographers, and actors that will bring to life the visions of his stories.