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Walid Salhab, Media Practice Lecturer at Queen Margaret University and award-winning filmmaker 

The award winning filmmaker, who was responsible for putting the Kelpies on the international tourism map, is to teach on Queen Margaret University’s new MSc Digital Campaigning and Content Creation. 

Walid Salhab, a media practice lecturer based at QMU, is known internationally for his stunning footage of The Kelpies, the 30 metre high equine monuments at Falkirk, and for his captivating  kinetic films of Edinburgh.

Walid spent three years perfecting a unique stop-motion/hyperlapse photographic technique. His distinctive style of filming can be clearly seen in ‘Kinetic Edinburgh II’, a stunning portrayal of Scotland’s capital, which clocked up over eight million hits on You Tube, Vimeo and other digital sites. His suite of kinetic films of Edinburgh and the east of Scotland helped to showcase the beauty of the east coast to a global audience.

His reputation for unique dynamic time-lapse gained interest from commercial clients. Falkirk Council and Helix Project contracted him to capture the full five month build phase of the Kelpies. His filming technique was well suited to the complex build phase, and his mesmerizing portrayal of the Kelpies when complete, helped launch The Kelpies in New York and Scotland. Aside from visually documented a period in Scotland’s art history, Walid’s film of the Kelpies supported the Council in achieving its economic objective of significantly increasing tourism to the Falkirk area.

In the last few years, Walid’s creative work has taken centre stage at international film festivals and he has won accolades at media festivals and competitions around the world. In 2016, ‘Avaratia’, his stop-motion animation film, premiered at Cannes in France, and was screened at Woods Hole in Massachusetts; New Hope Film Festival in Pennsylvania and Busho in Budapest. Avaritia won the ‘Award of Excellence’ at the Best Shorts Competition and continues to be shown at other film festivals around the world. His film 'Bra-et Al Rouh', aka 'Innocence of the Spirit' premiered and won two awards at the AFI World Cinema Festival at the prestigious Palais during the Cannes Film Festival. The film went on to win seven awards worldwide.

Walid has worked in commercial video production in Scotland and Lebanon but during his time with Queen Margaret University his work has featured on news programmes including BBC Reporting Scotland, STV Scotland Today and STV Scotland Tonight. He has been interviewed about this work on various TV and radio stations (BBC, ITV, STV, Radio Scotland) and featured in a broad variety of print media including the Edinburgh List, The Scotsman, Edinburgh Evening News, The Sun, Daily Record, Scottish Film Magazine and Lebanon’s Al Adib newspaper. His time-lapse footage of Edinburgh is also purchased by organisations and commercial agencies, which incorporate segments into their own digital promotional campaigns for both home and international markets. His recent stop-motion film masterclass, held in Edinburgh in 2018, was a sell out!

Walid said: “The growth and development of digital media has been one of the most significant changes which has taken place in the last decade. Now more than ever, organisations need creative talent – graduates who can create engaging content, skillfully blending written communication with engaging visuals. In a competitive market, the graduates who have the ability to cut through the noise by developing creative digital communication which captures people’s attention and connects with them, are the ones who will be successful.

“We are used to incubating talent at QMU – and working together with colleagues to create our own campaigns for small grassroots NGOs as well as corporate clients The development of this course is based on what the market needs. We look forward to working with our new students on the MSc Digital Campaigning and Content Creation and ensuring they develop the highly desirable skills which will set them apart in the industry.”

His short films have been screened and won accolades at media festivals and competitions around the world. His work has also featured on television on BBC Reporting Scotland, STV Scotland Today and STV Scotland Tonight. He has been interviewed for his work on various tv and Radio station (BBC, ITV, STV) In print media he has featured in the Edinburgh List, The Scotsman, the Edinburgh Evening News (front page), The Sun, The Daily Record, the Scottish Film Magazine and Lebanon’s Al Adib newspaper. He has also made a range of adverts and educational and co-operative films.