Omar Butti

Biography

With more than ten years of experience in global media, Omar Butti has managed large-scale industry development initiatives and worked both in front of and behind the camera.

As Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives and Media Studies, at the Dubai Film and TV Commission, Butti focuses on industry development. He headed the teams that launched ON.DXB (2019), a multi-media festival encompassing film, video, music and gaming, and VIDXB (2017), the region's first event dedicated to the digital content industry.

Previously, Butti was responsible for the documentary department at Image Nation Abu Dhabi (2014–2017). Among his projects there was the series History of the Emirates, created in conjunction with Atlantic Productions, London. He also wrote a feature-length screenplay, The Cage, which was optioned by Image Nation. He was an assistant director for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Paramount Pictures) and contributed to the HBO documentary Quran By Heart.

Before joining Image Nation, Butti worked at Dubai One (2008–2014), the UAE’s largest English-language TV channel, where he presented the cultural documentary series Emirati and the news and current affairs show Emirates 24/7. He hosted many of Dubai One’s live events, from the Metro launch and the Expo 2020 victory announcement live from Paris to the opening ceremonies of the 2011 and 2012 editions of the Dubai International Film Festival.

He was a finalist in a documentary competition sponsored by the United Nations in Chennai, India (2013). His short film, Black and White, was part of the EFC Short Narrative Competition in the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (2012).

Butti received a bachelor’s degree in film and television production at Northwestern University, Chicago (2006). He currently lives and works in Dubai.

SAF participation:
Sharjah Film Platform (December 2019)