Loay Tattan (cielo)

Loay Tattan, AKA cielo, is an award-winning filmmaker. In 2023, his work started to explode in popularity after he was ranked in the elite 1% of the filmmakers in the world by IMDb, and he had 4 of his films ranked within top 10 films in the history of Bahrain, including number 1 for his film “Wajba”, which only was overtaken by his other film “In My Shoes” into the first spot.

He loves to experiment with his films using unconventional motifs, usually without dialogue (or a very limited dialogue). Loay ‘cielo’ Tattan is a very firm believer in delivering his messages through philosophical semiotics instead of the traditional continuous excessive dialogue. This mission is particularly challenging because he actually lives in the middle east which has generally a lower support for cinema and filmmakers, especially in Bahrain; a not very well known small island in the middle of the sea, where no film school is available and not a huge heritage is being handed to the new generation. In spite of that, cielo’s films usually premiere in Bahrain because he is determined to elevate the cinema movement in his country to a much higher level, and he sees that possible as he spoke in many occasions that Bahrain is a “pool of talented people”.

Loay specializes in the drama and thriller genres, but he excels also in injecting situational irony, dry humor and cringe comedy into his films in a subtle way. That was clear in most of his films, which in turn showcases his eagerness to establish the grounds for a new generational move that he hopes bring into existence an indefinite amount of creative works that can match the blazingly fast paced world we live in.

cielo started his career by engaging in a local competition in Bahrain, his home country. He shot his very first film “Wezr” with only a phone and computer, he did the film by himself, and he won an official selection in that competition right on. After that, it was only progress. He took it from there and made another film which celebrated the pandemic days from another perspective, that film was “My Bloody Brother”.

Following those endeavors, he was able to finally start his professional work when he made a very innovative idea that got him to work with the most prestigious productions houses in Bahrain and with the most famous actor in the whole history of the nation; Jamaan Alrowaeie. “In My Shoes” was the real launch of cielo’s filmmaking career as he got a World Premiere at the first edition of Bahrain Film Festival, the official national festival of Kingdom of Bahrain, which gave his the right exposure of professional critics. “In My Shoes” got massively positive reviews from these critics whether locally in Bahrain, in GCC like KSA, regionally like Sudan or even globally like France.

Consequently, he was able to produce his fourth film, “WAJBA”, after winning the best scenario in Bahrain, and went on to participate around the world with the film.

Directing is cielo’s main cinematic role, but he also wrote most his films and commissions, so he is basically a writer/director for that matter. He also have occasional adventures with the acting world, to mention a couple: His leading role of “My Bloody Brother, his cameo in “In My Shoes” and his commander role in “The Ten Sins”.