Eli-Jean Tahchi

Eli Jean Tahchi is a graduate of the mixed program funded by Netflix at the National Institute of Image and Sound (INIS) in Montreal. He is a director, screenwriter and actor. In Beirut, he studied cinema at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts. In 2011, he moved to Montreal and studied cinema at the University of Montreal, and finally, at INIS in directing. Eli Jean Tahchi's committed cinema is sharp, human and metaphorically charged, and in which the notion of identity is regularly tackled. Since 2011, he has been accumulating projects of various genres and culturally diverse. In 2020, he was selected by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) to direct his film “Sometimes I wish I was on a desert island” aimed at amplifying the voices of affected Arabic-speaking LGBTQ2+ individuals by COVID-19. This film earned him a nomination for the IRIS award at the 24th Gala Québec Cinéma, in the best documentary short category. Recently, he was elected laureate of the Regard sur Montréal residency during which he produced his new documentary entitled “Neighbors in my backyard” which opens the RIDM 2020.

Awards & Festivals