I’ve been writing and dancing for as long as I remember. Maybe badly for the most part, and probably because they’re both ways of exploring ideas and stories.

My fascination with storytelling started with my fascination with my grandmothers. I was enchanted by the idea that, prior to becoming my Tetes; they were girls who had vastly different upbringings in the same city of Damascus before leaving it and setting out to see the world. They went on to marry the men who became my Jiddos and their lives took them from Syria to Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, the USA, Cyprus and Jordan; parenting my parents along the way (perhaps the most compelling reason).

In the pursuit of figuring out who I am, I am always compelled to figure out who others might be. Be it the smoke-blowing mom driving the over-crammed car next to ours at the traffic light in 80s Amman. Or the Palestinian man who’s voice came and went over the radio waves on a drive to the Dead Sea in 90’s Jordan as he dedicated a song to his West Bank relatives who he wasn’t allowed to visit; to my very own extended family who grew the roots that sprung me across time.

In my grandmothers’ recounting of the same stories from their childhoods, to their youth, through marriages, motherhood, wars and migration – over and over at my request – I formulated maps to navigate the world I’d inherited. I still unfold these maps of love and loss whenever I am searching for something within and outside of me. They’re my blueprint to decipher people, places, and not least of all, myself.

My preoccupation with storytelling is really a curiosity about our world and everyone who inhabits it (past, present and future). The idiosyncrasy, the subjective reality, the unique point of view; all parts of the cutouts of life that we each string together and lift up as our own unique bunting.

Professionally, I am also a storyteller. As a film and TV producer, I focus on working with talent from script to screen. I am passionate about collaborating with writers and directors to create features, series, docs and shorts that take the most private of dreams and transforms them for public access.

Currently, I am heading development and production for a regional, independent production company based out of Dubai. My working life began humbly in print journalism, after attaining my BA in Canada, and returning to Jordan where I debuted my career at a local newspaper and magazine. I moved to London in 2003, first working in journalism training and development, then completing an MA in production in 2008 and shifting to film and TV.

Becoming a Dubai resident in 2016, I am a Londoner from Jordan with very deep and diverse Syrian roots.

If you would like to get in touch, please write to me at mhmalas@gmail.com or find me on Instagram.