Amplo × Festival En Ville: Interview with Alhasan Yousef, Winner of the 2026 Audience Award
When sound becomes memory: the journey of an artist supported by Amplo
When you meet Alhasan Yousef, it becomes immediately clear why his film Locus Cordis deeply moved audiences. His cinema navigates that fragile space where the intimate becomes political, where sound expresses what images no longer can.
A filmmaker, writer and visual artist originally from Latakia and now based in Brussels, Alhasan works at the intersection of fiction, documentary and experimental practices. His work explores identity, displacement and memory through a deeply poetic visual language.
This year, his film received the Audience Award at Festival En Ville, a prize endowed with €1000 by Amplo, a committed partner of the festival. This support aims to encourage artistic creation, strengthen visibility for emerging voices and accompany artists as they develop their careers.
We sat down with Alhasan Yousef to discuss his background, his film and the challenges that shape his perspective as a filmmaker.
Could you introduce yourself and tell us about your background?
Alhasan Yousef:
I studied cinema and then joined the documentary master DocNomads, an Erasmus programme based in Portugal, Hungary and Belgium. Today, I work as a filmmaker, photographer and videographer, and I’m also part of the audiovisual department at Citylab Pianofabriek.
How did it feel to win the Audience Award, endowed by Amplo?
A.Y.:
I was very happy and deeply moved. For me, the Audience Award is the most meaningful recognition: a film truly exists only when it reaches the audience.
Receiving a prize endowed by Amplo, an organisation genuinely committed to artists, adds a concrete and encouraging dimension to this recognition.
How would you describe your film Locus Cordis?
A.Y.:
It’s a personal and experimental documentary exploring the way sound can create connection despite distance.
The film brings two realities into dialogue:
- the occupied Syrian Golan Heights,
- and my own experience as a newcomer in Europe, navigating isolation, vulnerability and the need for connection.
What inspired the project?
A.Y.:
It all started with an exercise where we had to create the sound before the images. This immediately brought to mind the shouting hill in the occupied Golan Heights: a place where, for decades, families separated by the border have shouted messages of love to one another.
The symbolic power of these voices was an obvious starting point.
What challenges did you face?
A.Y.:
It was a student film, without budget or crew. But the real challenge was personal.
Between working on the Golan and adapting to life in Europe, I went through a period of anxiety and solitude.
This vulnerability eventually became a narrative strength:
the contrast between the cries echoing across the valley over there,
and my own quiet voice here, reaching my family through a screen.
How do you see your place within Belgian cinema?
A.Y.:
Belgium is a rich but complex country. I'm still building a network and gaining an understanding of the society.
But I want to stay here: the Belgian scene is inspiring. And Festival En Ville carried symbolic weight for me, it was the first time the film was screened in Belgium.
Did the festival open new opportunities for you?
A.Y.:
Yes, I met artists, professionals and curious audience members. It made me want to keep going, to create even more.
What are you working on now?
A.Y.:
For two years, I’ve been researching a project about the earthquake in Syria. It’s a long and constantly evolving process.
But I also feel the need to focus more on Belgium. Perhaps a film bridging Brussels and Syria. I’m still exploring.
Supporting a filmmaker like Alhasan means supporting a voice, a story, a perspective that enriches our cultural landscape. It means giving visibility to often-invisible paths. It means allowing artists to dedicate themselves fully to their practice, knowing they can count on us for the rest.
Are you working in the cultural sector and looking for support both in managing your activity and valuing your artistic work?