ABDULRAHMAN MOQBEL

Cinematic Lighting for Film

From cultural heritage narratives to psychological thrillers, cinematic lighting designed to guide story emotion, eye attention, and reveal meaning within every frame. Built in Maya, Arnold, and Unreal Engine 5.

I'm Abdulrahman Moqbel, a CGI Director and Lighting & Compositing Artist based in Saudi Arabia, working globally.

My work sits at the intersection of cinematic storytelling and real-time technology. I've directed and produced five original short films, led lighting pipelines for VFX and animation productions, and lectured in CGI and 3D Animation at Jeddah International University, shaping the next generation of digital artists while continuing to push my own craft forward.

My 2024 film Musnad, a CGI short inspired by the ancient AlUla heritage, won the Golden Palm Award for Best Debut Animation at the Saudi Film Festival and the Best CGI Short Film Award at Al Ain Film Festival (UAE). It has since been selected for festivals in Italy and the United States.

I don't just light scenes. I design the emotional experience of every frame.

• 🎬 Cinematic Lighting Direction

• ⚡ Real-Time Production (Unreal Engine 5)

• 🎨 Compositing & VFX Integration (Nuke, Arnold)

• 🎥 CGI Short Film Direction

• ⚙️ Pipeline Design & Team Leadership

• 📚 3D Animation Education & Curriculum

Cinematic Lighting for Gameplay

Real-time environments crafted for immersion. Lumen-powered lighting rigs, HDR calibration, and dynamic atmosphere, optimized for performance without compromising visual fidelity.

Creature Shots

Bringing digital creatures to life through light and shadow. Real-time and semi-realistic creature lighting for film and interactive media.

Semi - Realistic

Directing Musnad film (Trailer)

Discover how light, color, and story merged to bring AlUla’s heritage to life through “Musnad.”

Directed and Produced Films

Five films. Five explorations of light, identity, and human experience, each one a deliberate step forward in cinematic language.

MUSNAD (2024)

A poetic CGI short inspired by the ancient AlUla heritage of Saudi Arabia. Musnad transforms pre-Islamic script into a living visual narrative, blending cinematic lighting, spatial sound, and cultural memory into an immersive short film experience.

🏆 Golden Palm Award – Best Debut Animation | Saudi Film Festival 2024
🏆 Best CGI Short Film | Al Ain Film Festival 2025

REFLECTION AND REFRACTION (2019)

A visual meditation on perception, using light as metaphor to explore the boundary between reality and illusion.

🏆 Five international awards including wins in the US, UK, India, and Iran.

WAS IN 2020 (2020)

A creative document of the global pause, portraying human resilience and isolation through surreal digital imagery.

🏆 Award winner, Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions, UK.

AT NINE O’CLOCK (2018)

A psychological short film exploring identity and internal fear. Every shadow is deliberate. Every light source a character.

THE JOURNEY (2017)

A heartfelt debut, capturing the emotional distance between dreams and the paths we take to reach them. The film that started it all.

Recognition

MUSNAD FILM (2024)

Awards
🏆 Golden Palm Award – Best Debut Animation — Saudi Film Festival, Saudi Arabia (May 2024)
🏆 Best CGI Short Film – Winner — Al Ain Film Festival, United Arab Emirates (February 2025)

Official Selections
🎬 Lunatico! Short Film Contest — Italy (May 2025)
🎬 Universal Film Festival — United States (July 2024)

REFLECTION AND REFRACTION FILM (2019)

Awards
🏆 Award Winner – Animated Expressions Expo — United States (August 2023)
🏆 Award Winner – Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions (Hosted by @LiftOffGlobalNetwork) — United Kingdom (January 2021)
🏆 Award Winner – Cinevoyage International Film Festival — India (February 2021)
🏆 Award Winner – First-Time Filmmaker Sessions (Volume 13) — United Kingdom (January 2021)
🏆 Award Winner – Al Thaqalayn Film Festival — Iran (December 2020)

Official Selections
🎬 Filmmaker Sessions Volume 12 — United Kingdom (January 2021)
🎬 International iSHORTZ Platform Festival — India (Quarter-Finalist, July 2021)

WAS IN 2020 FILM (2020)

Awards
🏆 Award Winner – Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions (Hosted by @LiftOffGlobalNetwork) — United Kingdom (June 2023)

Official Selections
🎬 Filmmaker Sessions Volume 12 — United Kingdom (June 2023)

The full stage of the 10th Saudi Film Festival (2024), capturing filmmakers and award recipients during the closing ceremony where Musnad received the Golden Palm Award for Best Debut Animation.

Abdulrahman Moqbel standing with festival officials while receiving the Golden Palm Award for Best Debut Animation at the Saudi Film Festival 2024, recognizing excellence in direction and visual storytelling.

Professional Summary

What I Bring to Your Production

I've spent eight years building a practice that sits at the edge of art and engineering. Here's what that means for your project:

🎬 Lighting that tells stories, not just illuminates scenes. Every setup is designed around emotional intent.

⚡ Real-time expertise, Unreal Engine 5, Lumen, Nanite. I build production-ready pipelines that deliver cinematic quality without the render-farm timeline.

🎥 End-to-end direction, from concept and pre-production through compositing and delivery. I've run every stage of a production.

🌍 Cultural depth, my research and films bridge Gulf heritage and global cinematic language. Unique perspective. Distinctive output.

⚙️ Pipeline leadership, I've built workflows adopted across studio and academic environments. I make teams faster.

Software

• 🎮 Unreal Engine 5

• 🧱 Maya

• 💡 Arnold

• 🎨 Nuke

• 🗿 ZBrush

• 🎯 Substance Painter

• 🎬 DaVinci Resolve

• ✨ After Effects

• 🎞️ Premiere Pro

• 🖌️ Photoshop

• 📊 ShotGrid

• 🌐 HDR Light Studio

✨ Let’s Work Together 😊🔥

💼 Available for freelance projects, studio collaborations, and speaking engagements.

🎬 Whether you're building a VFX pipeline, directing a CGI short, or need a lighting artist who understands both the technical and the cinematic, let's talk.

Abdulrahman Moqbel, CGI Director & Lighting Artist
Saudi Arabia · Working Globally