Amman Abbasi

Amman Abbasi
Occupations
  • Film director
  • composer
  • editor
Years active2009–present
RelativesYousuf Abbasi (brother)[1]

Amman Abbasi is a Pakistani American writer, director, producer, editor and composer. He was named one of Filmmaker magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2016.[2] His debut feature, Dayveon (2017), premiered at the Sundance and Berlin international film festival and received two Independent Spirit Award nominations.[3][4]

His later work includes Yasmeen’s Element (2024), the score for The Exorcist: Believer (2023), and co-producing the 2026 Academy Award-nominated documentary short Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud.[5]

Early life and education

Abbasi grew up in Paragould and Jonesboro before his family moved to Little Rock when he was nine; he attended Hall High School and completed his senior year at Little Rock Central High School.[6] He has cited the Dardenne brothers and Martin Scorsese as principal influences on his filmmaking.[6]

Career

Documentary work

Abbasi began his career in documentary filmmaking after dropping out of college. While in high school he met the documentarians Brent and Craig Renaud and worked with them as a cameraman on projects including their Chicago gang-violence documentary.[7] In 2011 he travelled to Haiti for The New York Times to cover the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake; the resulting short documentary received an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia Award.[8] He served as editor on the Renaud Brothers' series Last Chance High (2015), which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding editing.[9] He also worked as director's assistant to David Gordon Green on Manglehorn (2014) and Our Brand Is Crisis (2015).[10]

In 2021, Abbasi directed Udaan, a short documentary commissioned as part of the Hindsight Project that follows Baneen Khan, a young woman from Karachi who relocates to rural Arkansas to begin studies at Black River Technical College.[11][12] Udaan premiered at AFI Docs in 2022.[13]

In 2026, Abbasi served as co-producer on Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud, which was nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 2026 Academy Awards.[5]

Feature films

Abbasi's debut feature, Dayveon, tells the story of a 13-year-old African-American boy in rural Wrightsville, Arkansas who falls in with a local gang following the death of his older brother. The film was developed through the IFP Narrative Lab and was executive-produced by David Gordon Green, James Schamus and Lisa Muskat.[14] Dayveon premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival;[15] it received two nominations at the 33rd Independent Spirit Awards in 2018.[16]

Abbasi's second feature, Yasmeen's Element (2024), is a 76-minute drama set in the Hunza Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It had its world premiere at SXSW in March 2024 in the festival's Narrative Spotlight section,[17][18] and was subsequently screened at the 48th São Paulo International Film Festival.[19]

Music

Abbasi's first credited score was for the 2009 documentary Warrior Champions: From Baghdad to Beijing.[3] He has scored both his own features, Dayveon and Yasmeen's Element, and his compositions have been used in films including The Wall (2010), Tragedy (2015), Shelter (2016) and Meth Storm (2017).[20] He served as music consultant on the Halloween film franchise, working on Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills (2021).[21]

In 2023, Abbasi co-composed the score for The Exorcist: Believer with David Wingo;[22][23] the score received a nomination for Best Original Score in a Horror Film at the 14th Hollywood Music in Media Awards.[24]

Filmography

YearTitleDirectorComposerEditorNotes
2009Warrior Champions: From Baghdad to BeijingYesDocumentary
2014ManglehornDirector's assistant
2015Our Brand Is CrisisDirector's assistant
2015Last Chance HighYesDocumentary series; Emmy nomination
2017DayveonYesYesYesTwo Independent Spirit Award nominations
2018HalloweenMusic consultant
2021Halloween KillsMusic consultant
2021UdaanYesShort documentary
2023The Exorcist: BelieverYesCo-composer with David Wingo
2024Yasmeen's ElementYesYesFeature

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
201833rd Independent Spirit AwardsJohn Cassavetes Award and Kiehl's Someone to Watch Award[25]DayveonNominated
202314th Hollywood Music in Media AwardsBest Original Score in a Horror FilmThe Exorcist: BelieverNominated

References

  1. ↑ Szenher, James (17 June 2010). "Amman apart". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  2. ↑ "Series: 25 New Faces of Film 2016". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 Smittle, Stephanie (27 July 2016). "Amman Abbasi named among "25 New Faces of Independent Film"". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  4. ↑ Goldman, Russell (26 July 2016). "Amman Abbasi debut film 'Dayveon,' fostered by independent film vets, completes production – exclusive". IndieWire. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  5. 1 2 "SXSW 2025 Schedule | Film & TV Project". SXSW 2026 Schedule. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 Koon, David (23 August 2018). "A Q&A with Amman Abbasi". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  7. ↑ Roston, V. (2016). "Amman Abbasi". Filmmaker. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  8. ↑ "Amman Abbasi". Arkansas Cinema Society. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  9. ↑ "Amman Abbasi". Sundance Collab. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  10. ↑ "Amman Abbasi". American Film Showcase. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  11. ↑ Grajeda, Antoinette (2021). "Documentary highlights challenges, resiliency of Pakistani student moving to Arkansas". Arkansas Soul. Archived from the original on 16 January 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  12. ↑ "Hindsight filmmaker: in 'Udaan,' Amman Abbasi illuminates Pakistani culture and US immigration process". Reel South. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "AFI DOCS 2022: We Stay in the House". AFI Docs. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  14. ↑ Goldman, Russell (26 July 2016). "Amman Abbasi debut film 'Dayveon,' fostered by independent film vets, completes production – exclusive". IndieWire. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  15. ↑ Mitchell, Elvis (20 March 2018). "Amman Abbasi: 'Dayveon'". KCRW. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  16. ↑ "Amman Abbasi". Firelight Media. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  17. ↑ Smittle, Stephanie (24 February 2024). "Arkansas filmmaker Amman Abbasi's latest debuts at SXSW". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  18. ↑ "Yasmeen's Element". South by Southwest. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  19. ↑ "O Elemento de Yasmeen" (in Portuguese). Mostra Internacional de Cinema em São Paulo. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  20. ↑ "Meth Storm (2017)". FilmAffinity. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  21. ↑ "Amman Abbasi". American Film Showcase. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  22. ↑ Newby, Richard (5 October 2023). "Demonic instruments: the art of the score with The Exorcist: Believer composers". Fangoria. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  23. ↑ "One song, five alarms: The Exorcist's theme song "Tubular Bells" still holds up 50 years later". Syfy. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  24. ↑ Grein, Paul (2 November 2023). "Songs from 'Barbie' pace 2023 Hollywood Music in Media Awards nominations (full list)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  25. ↑ "33RD FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED". Film Independent. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
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