THUS SPOKE HOSSAM
A film by ELLA ALTMAN
After HOSSAM ZIOUD
Direction, screenplay, editing: Ella Altman
Genre: documentary
Runtime: 70-80 minutes
Shot on: DSLR, mobile phone, 4K
Pitch
Thus Spoke Hossam builds from a collection of filmed archives captured within a relationship, constructing the portrait of a man shaped by deep identity tensions. Hossam, an Arab philosopher living in Israel, sought to move beyond the identities imposed by thought and by cinema. From Paris, in 2026, Ella revisits the images and recordings he left behind, and undertakes a research journey into his trajectory — through encounters with his family and those who knew him. From these fragments — archives, voices, memory and present — the film attempts to bring a way of thinking to light and recompose a presence.
Synopsis
Hossam, a young Arab philosopher in Israel, dreamed of transforming society through cinema by breaking free from imposed identities. Five years after his death, Ella, his partner, reconstructs his portrait from the filmed exchanges made for the film they were preparing together.
PROJECT STATUS
The project draws on an initial editing work of approximately fifteen minutes, assembled from a portion of the existing archives. This first cut now serves as a research and development base for the feature-length film.
The current work involves exploring the film's narrative structure and articulating the different layers of material: filmed images, audio recordings, and the director's present-day voice. This process aims to build a film in dialogue between past and present — between Hossam's words and the gaze cast upon them today.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The development of the project will also include research into Hossam's personal and intellectual trajectory. As part of this, a research trip to Israel is planned to meet members of his family and people from his circle in Shefar'am, his hometown.
These encounters will deepen the understanding of his journey and situate his thinking within its social and family context, while feeding into the film's narrative construction.
WRITING AND STRUCTURE
The writing process will develop through a dialogue between the existing material and new research. The work will involve building a structure that allows Hossam's thinking to emerge through the archives, while anchoring the film in the director's present.
The writing will continue in parallel with the editing process, in an approach where narrative structure and cinematic form are built progressively from the material itself.
DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE
2026 — Research and Writing
Writing and structuring the film from existing filmed archives and audio recordings. Developing the narrative structure and exploring different editing approaches. Research trip to Israel to meet members of Hossam's family and people from his circle in Shefa-Amr.
2026–2027 — Artistic Development
Continuing writing and exploratory editing from the existing material. Searching for artistic and technical collaborators (editing, sound, image).
2027 — Film Editing
Assembling the feature-length documentary from the existing material and the research conducted during the development phase.
Excerpt from the feature in development (16 min)