BIOGRAPHY
YOUSEF LINJAWI IS AN AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER AND PHOTOGRAPHER. SOME OF HIS DIRECTORIAL CREDITS INCLUDE THE ETHEREAL MUSIC VIDEO "DAUGHTERS OF THE WIND", A SHORT FILM BASED ON THE FAMOUS ARABIAN POEM BY HRH PRINCE KHALID AL FAISAL AL SAUD, (ADVISER TO THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES AND GOVERNOR OF MAKKAH PROVINCE) AND NARRATED BY SHEIKH MISHARY BIN RASHID AL-AFASY.
DOTW GARNERED INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM AT THE IBC CONVENTION IN AMSTERDAM WHEN IT PREMIERED IN THE MOST IMPRESSIVE THEATER IN THE WORLD (1700-SEAT AUDITORIUM) IBC BIG SCREEN EXPERIENCE AS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CINEMATIC DEPICTIONS OF ARABIAN HORSES EVER DONE.
HIS STUNNING WORK WAS USED AGAIN BY ARAB SINGER HUSSAIN AL JASSMI FOR "AL ADIYAT" A POEM WRITTEN BY HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM, (VICE PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER OF THE UAE AND RULER OF DUBAI). YOUSEF HAS SINCE BECOME A WELL SOUGHT-AFTER DIRECTOR AND CINEMATOGRAPHER.
HIS CINEMATOGRAPHY ON THE IMAX® DOCUMENTARY "ROADS TO MECCA" DEPICTING THE BEAUTY OF HAJJ IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF IBN BATTUTA WAS A SUPERHUMAN EFFORT THAT EARNED HIM "BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY" AWARD AT THE BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL. "AFRICAN SAFARI" BASED ON HIS WILDLIFE JOURNEY TO THE SERENGETI WITH FELLOW FILMMAKERS ROBERT PRIMES, ASC, AND DAN KNEECE, SOC IS AN INTOXICATING VISUAL MEMOIR. IT IS AS RIVETING IN ITS RAWNESS AS IT IS MELODIC IN ITS MESMERIZING AESTHETIC BEAUTY. YOUSEF'S KEEN INTEREST IN IMAGE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY AND FUTURE ADVANCEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY LED TO HIS DIRECT INVOLVEMENT WITH TWO OF THE LARGEST AND MOST SOPHISTICATED CAMERA ASSESSMENTS IN HISTORY. PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS (ASC) AND PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA (PGA), YOUSEF MADE A DOCUMENTARY IN 2009 FOR THE CAMERA ASSESSMENT SERIES (CAS). IN 2011, HE WAS APPOINTED TO BE CAMERA MASTER ON THE SINGLE CHIP CAMERA EVALUATION (SCCE).
YOUSEF IS A PROUD LIFETIME MEMBER OF THE DIGITAL CINEMA SOCIETY AND WAS SELECTED BY THE HOLLYWOOD PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION (HPA®) TO JUDGE THE HPA AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING FOR TWO YEARS IN A ROW. THIS AWARD WAS CREATED TO FOSTER AWARENESS AND RECOGNIZE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF COLORISTS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO GROUNDBREAKING TECHNOLOGIES AND CREATIVE EXCELLENCE IN THEIR FIELD.
YOUSEF EARNED HIS B.F.A DEGREE FROM SCAD IN FILM & TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS WITH A MINOR IN PHOTOGRAPHY. HE WAS FURTHER HONORED IN BOTH HIS JUNIOR AND SENIOR YEARS OF COLLEGE WHEN HE WAS SELECTED TO BE THE ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR FOR KODAK'S "STOP BY. SHOOT FILM" WORKSHOP. IN 2006, HE COMPLETED THE CINEMATOGRAPHERS' RESIDENCY PROGRAM THROUGH THE MAINE WORKSHOPS WITH SOME OF THE WORLD'S RENOWNED PHOTOGRAPHERS AND FILMMAKERS. YOUSEF ALSO ATTENDED TWO PSPF WORKSHOPS; WITH "POET OF THE ORDINARY" KEITH CARTER AND VETERAN PHOTOJOURNALIST DAVID BURNETT RESPECTIVELY AND IN 2017 HE PARTICIPATED IN IMAGO “TEACHING CINEMATOGRAPHY CONFERENCE” IN MUNICH, GERMANY.
YOUSEF ALSO ATTENDED THE PRESTIGIOUS AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY AND STUDIED HEREUNDER SOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST ACCLAIMED FILMMAKERS. AFTER BEING MENTORED BY BILL DILL, ASC FOR HIS M.F.A DEGREE IN CINEMATOGRAPHY FROM CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, YOUSEF WAS HONORED TO BE NAMED SCHOLAR AND U.S AMBASSADOR TO THE PRESTIGIOUS BUDAPEST CINEMATOGRAPHY MASTER CLASS BY ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL CINEMATOGRAPHERS IN HISTORY; VILMOS ZSIGMOND, ASC FOR HIS OUTSTANDING WORK ON THE AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILM “THE STONE ON THE SHORE.”
YOUSEF IS A CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER FOR JON FAUER'S FILM AND DIGITAL TIMES AND AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER WHERE HIS PHOTOGRAPHY HAS ALSO BEEN NUMEROUSLY PUBLISHED. AT THE 83RD ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS, YOUSEF'S PORTRAITURE WAS EXHIBITED IN MEMORIAM OF FAMED HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITER, DIRECTOR, AND PRODUCER TOM MANKIEWICZ AND ANOTHER STRIKING PORTRAIT WAS CHOSEN TO GRACE THE COVER OF HIS CELEBRATED AUTOBIOGRAPHY "MY LIFE AS A MANKIEWICZ: AN INSIDER'S JOURNEY THROUGH HOLLYWOOD".
YOUSEF’ PHOTOGRAPHS WERE ALSO PART OF A POWERFUL VISUAL GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR OHCHR ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD IN THE UNITED NATIONS. HIS PORTRAITURES GO BEYOND A SURFACE RECORDING OF HIS SUBJECT'S LIKENESS. HIS SIGNATURE-STYLE IMAGES ATTEMPT TO SHOW THE INNER PERSON WHO HOVERS BEHIND THE FACADE. AT THE HEART OF HIS PHOTOGRAPHY, THERE IS AN INTIMATE EXPLORATION AND A DISTINCTLY HONEST POINT OF VIEW.
YOUSEF ALSO HAS AN ABUNDANT LOVE FOR ARABIAN HORSES AND TRAVELS THE GLOBE IN SEARCH OF MOMENTS TO PASSIONATELY CAPTURE THEIR BEAUTY. HE HELD THE POSITION OF DIRECTOR FOR LINJAWI ARABIANS, AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED BREEDING PROGRAM OF SOME OF THE FINEST ARABIAN HORSES, AND HAS BRED CHAMPION HORSES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. HE CONSIDERS THEM TO BE LIVING ART AND THEY CONTINUE TO BE ONE OF HIS MOST FASCINATING SUBJECTS OF INSPIRATION.