Khaled Al Kammar
- Composer
- Sound Department
- Music Department
In record time, Khaled Al-Kammar managed to break through one of the most competitive artistic fields and carve a niche among the most prominent composers with more than 25 artworks across films and TV dramas.
He made his mark on the music scene through his work, garnering him several local and international awards, culminating with the State Encouragement Award in Arts in 2021.
Al-Kammar's journey of composing soundtracks started with Asham (2012) in 2012, which garnered him the Best Soundtrack Award from the Cairo Film Society, followed by Ahmed Abdalla's DECOR in 2014, which won the Best Music Award from the Egyptian Catholic Center for Cinema Festival.
He graduated from the Faculty of Engineering of the German University in Cairo, and in 2016, he received his master's degree in soundtrack composition from the UK's Edinburgh University with honors.
Throughout his studies, he worked as an assistant to several prominent composers, such as Hesham Nazih in Mohamed Yassin's AFRAH EL-QOBBA, Marwan Hamed's THE ORIGINALS, Hani Khalifa's EUGENIE NIGHTS, and Khaled Hammad's VALENTINO and HIDDEN WORLDS starring the superstar Adel Emam.
Al-Kammar is characterized by a deep understanding of the drama's nature and its relation to music. He's able to dig through the simplest and most accurate details of the character and access their underlying feelings, turning them into abstract meanings and thus into musical notes that speak of the character and the drama as a whole.
Composing Karim El-Shenawy's QABEEL marked Al-Kammar's major breakthrough, as it was distinctive and reflected the series' thrilling theme that takes place in the bleak underworld. The soundtrack garnered him the Hollywood Music in Media Award, becoming the first Egyptian to receive the award.
Afterwards, he cooperated with some of the most prominent celebrities in the TV drama industry, such as Amr Salam in PARANORMAL - Netflix's first Egyptian production - in which Al-Kammar moved away from the traditional form of horror series' soundtracks, which are made with high notes that are mostly used to add a sense of suspense to the audiences' experience.
On the contrary, he used quieter and slower rhythms to sow terror and anticipation based on the characters' stories, such as Shiraz's theme, which features female humming that expresses the ghost's fearful character from the beginning of the series, but also seamlessly evokes feelings of pity after the disclosure of the fact that Shiraz is merely an innocent child.
In the music of the second and third seasons of AL-EKHTEYAR, the main themes featured brass instruments with strict tunes dominated by the rhythms of the military marches, mixed with string instruments such as the oud, zither, and oriental woodwind instruments to express the central themes of dignity and sacrifice.
This tendency to turn drama into music and the usage of dramatic characters added benefit to Al-Kammar's prowess in expressing the female character in many artworks using string instruments due to their seamless and smooth nature, expressing the depth and shifts in feminine characters.
In the social comedy series KHALI BALAK MN ZIZI (2021) - directed by Karim El-Shenawy and written by Mariam Naoum's Sard workshop - the heroine's main theme is linked to the mandolin, which is characterized by being mild and playful to express the great energy motivating the character and controlling her enduring impulses and reactions.
At the same time, this surplus energy represents the character's crisis and dramatic conflict, thus the theme shifts in the more dramatic moments, with the piano becoming more dominant and the string instruments receding.
On the other hand, the treatment is disparate in Nelly Karim's FATEN AMAL HARBI series, which was streamed in Ramadan 2022. This series earned Al-Kammar the Best Soundtrack Award at the first edition of the Cairo Drama Festival.
The heroine suffers from a dramatic crisis with social and political extensions rooted in society, therefore Al-Kammar chose oud and zither to be the leading instruments.
Eventually, the female drama FINDING OLA - directed by Hadi El-Bagoury and starring Hend Sabry - reunited Al-Kammar with Netflix. The series was a remarkable success not only on the dramatical or comical levels, but on the musical level, especially the internal songs that Al-Kammar selected to be part of the scene's composition rather than just fading into the background.
Moreover, he composed the music for the first two seasons of LEH LAA?, which was directed by Mariam Abu Ouf and written by Mariam Naoum's Sard workshop.
Al-Kammar also cooperated with Shahid.net in Ahmed El-Gendy's miniseries FAMILY MATTER, starring Maged El-Kedwany. In terms of his contributions in the Arab world, Al Kammar composed the music of the Saudi Film VALLEY ROAD by Khaled Fahd - which closed the second edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival - and Netflix's Saudi series WHISPERS (2020). Additionally, he worked on two series starring Bassel Khaiat - Karim El-Shenawy's Lebanese series BLOOD OATH and the Syrian QAYD MAJHOUL (2021).
Among his latest filmographies are SAHEB AL MAQAM (2020), which received the Music Award from the Egyptian Catholic Center for Cinema Festival and the science fiction film MOUSA (2021), which marked his first cooperation with director Peter Mimi, who he also worked with in the successful FOR ZEKO (2022).
In 2020, Al-Kammar also composed the soundtrack of THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD, which was directed by Ahmed Khaled Mousa and starred Mohamed Emam, Yasmeen Raess, and Fathy Abdel Wahab.
In addition to his work in cinema and TV dramas, Al-Kammar collaborated on several famous ads, including two ads starring the world-class player Mohamed Salah, Tamer Mohsen's YOU'RE STRONGER THAN DRUGS, and the award-winning Alexandria Bank ad by Rob Sander, in addition to Amr Salama's 100 Million Healthy Lives ad staring Sawsan Badr.
Among his upcoming works are Peter Mimi's historical series THE ASSASSINS starring Karim Abdel Aziz and FE MAHAB EL REH starring Hend Sabry. He is also working on Peter Mimi's SHALABY starring Karim Mahmoud Abdel Aziz and Ruby.
He made his mark on the music scene through his work, garnering him several local and international awards, culminating with the State Encouragement Award in Arts in 2021.
Al-Kammar's journey of composing soundtracks started with Asham (2012) in 2012, which garnered him the Best Soundtrack Award from the Cairo Film Society, followed by Ahmed Abdalla's DECOR in 2014, which won the Best Music Award from the Egyptian Catholic Center for Cinema Festival.
He graduated from the Faculty of Engineering of the German University in Cairo, and in 2016, he received his master's degree in soundtrack composition from the UK's Edinburgh University with honors.
Throughout his studies, he worked as an assistant to several prominent composers, such as Hesham Nazih in Mohamed Yassin's AFRAH EL-QOBBA, Marwan Hamed's THE ORIGINALS, Hani Khalifa's EUGENIE NIGHTS, and Khaled Hammad's VALENTINO and HIDDEN WORLDS starring the superstar Adel Emam.
Al-Kammar is characterized by a deep understanding of the drama's nature and its relation to music. He's able to dig through the simplest and most accurate details of the character and access their underlying feelings, turning them into abstract meanings and thus into musical notes that speak of the character and the drama as a whole.
Composing Karim El-Shenawy's QABEEL marked Al-Kammar's major breakthrough, as it was distinctive and reflected the series' thrilling theme that takes place in the bleak underworld. The soundtrack garnered him the Hollywood Music in Media Award, becoming the first Egyptian to receive the award.
Afterwards, he cooperated with some of the most prominent celebrities in the TV drama industry, such as Amr Salam in PARANORMAL - Netflix's first Egyptian production - in which Al-Kammar moved away from the traditional form of horror series' soundtracks, which are made with high notes that are mostly used to add a sense of suspense to the audiences' experience.
On the contrary, he used quieter and slower rhythms to sow terror and anticipation based on the characters' stories, such as Shiraz's theme, which features female humming that expresses the ghost's fearful character from the beginning of the series, but also seamlessly evokes feelings of pity after the disclosure of the fact that Shiraz is merely an innocent child.
In the music of the second and third seasons of AL-EKHTEYAR, the main themes featured brass instruments with strict tunes dominated by the rhythms of the military marches, mixed with string instruments such as the oud, zither, and oriental woodwind instruments to express the central themes of dignity and sacrifice.
This tendency to turn drama into music and the usage of dramatic characters added benefit to Al-Kammar's prowess in expressing the female character in many artworks using string instruments due to their seamless and smooth nature, expressing the depth and shifts in feminine characters.
In the social comedy series KHALI BALAK MN ZIZI (2021) - directed by Karim El-Shenawy and written by Mariam Naoum's Sard workshop - the heroine's main theme is linked to the mandolin, which is characterized by being mild and playful to express the great energy motivating the character and controlling her enduring impulses and reactions.
At the same time, this surplus energy represents the character's crisis and dramatic conflict, thus the theme shifts in the more dramatic moments, with the piano becoming more dominant and the string instruments receding.
On the other hand, the treatment is disparate in Nelly Karim's FATEN AMAL HARBI series, which was streamed in Ramadan 2022. This series earned Al-Kammar the Best Soundtrack Award at the first edition of the Cairo Drama Festival.
The heroine suffers from a dramatic crisis with social and political extensions rooted in society, therefore Al-Kammar chose oud and zither to be the leading instruments.
Eventually, the female drama FINDING OLA - directed by Hadi El-Bagoury and starring Hend Sabry - reunited Al-Kammar with Netflix. The series was a remarkable success not only on the dramatical or comical levels, but on the musical level, especially the internal songs that Al-Kammar selected to be part of the scene's composition rather than just fading into the background.
Moreover, he composed the music for the first two seasons of LEH LAA?, which was directed by Mariam Abu Ouf and written by Mariam Naoum's Sard workshop.
Al-Kammar also cooperated with Shahid.net in Ahmed El-Gendy's miniseries FAMILY MATTER, starring Maged El-Kedwany. In terms of his contributions in the Arab world, Al Kammar composed the music of the Saudi Film VALLEY ROAD by Khaled Fahd - which closed the second edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival - and Netflix's Saudi series WHISPERS (2020). Additionally, he worked on two series starring Bassel Khaiat - Karim El-Shenawy's Lebanese series BLOOD OATH and the Syrian QAYD MAJHOUL (2021).
Among his latest filmographies are SAHEB AL MAQAM (2020), which received the Music Award from the Egyptian Catholic Center for Cinema Festival and the science fiction film MOUSA (2021), which marked his first cooperation with director Peter Mimi, who he also worked with in the successful FOR ZEKO (2022).
In 2020, Al-Kammar also composed the soundtrack of THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD, which was directed by Ahmed Khaled Mousa and starred Mohamed Emam, Yasmeen Raess, and Fathy Abdel Wahab.
In addition to his work in cinema and TV dramas, Al-Kammar collaborated on several famous ads, including two ads starring the world-class player Mohamed Salah, Tamer Mohsen's YOU'RE STRONGER THAN DRUGS, and the award-winning Alexandria Bank ad by Rob Sander, in addition to Amr Salama's 100 Million Healthy Lives ad staring Sawsan Badr.
Among his upcoming works are Peter Mimi's historical series THE ASSASSINS starring Karim Abdel Aziz and FE MAHAB EL REH starring Hend Sabry. He is also working on Peter Mimi's SHALABY starring Karim Mahmoud Abdel Aziz and Ruby.
