Khyam Allami soundtracks Rand Abou Fakher’s film ‘Why Do I See You In Everything?’
The screenplay was co-written by Qusay Awad, a Syrian multidisciplinary artist and DJ currently based in Berlin
A new documentary film directed by Rand Abou Fakher, the Brussels-Berlin-based Syrian filmmaker exploring themes of memory and exile, will debut during the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which runs from 29 January to 8 February 2026, and will feature music by acclaimed Iraqi-British composer and electronic artist Khyam Allami.
The screenplay was co-written by Qusay Awad, a Syrian multidisciplinary artist and DJ currently based in Berlin, whose practice spans sound, performance, and visual experimentation. His presence infuses the film, ‘Why Do I See You In Everything?’, with a sensibility shaped by club culture, migration narratives, and the poetics of everyday life in exile, giving the story its layered rhythm and emotional cadence.
Moving between personal archives and drifting states of reverie, the story centers on two Syrian friends who turn a single day into a lifetime’s reckoning. A return trip home meant to document rebirth instead reveals another quiet collapse, reminding them of the fragile line between hope and loss. Still, the film locates an enduring tenderness, a softness that steadily unthreads the weight history has laid upon them.
The project is produced by Rand Abou Fakher and Rosa Galguera Ortega, with Hilife Cinematography serving as the production company behind the film.
Khyam Allami is also the founder of Nawa Recordings, a London-based independent label dedicated to new alternative music from the Arab world. His debut solo oud album ‘Resonance/Dissonance’, released on Nawa in 2011, brought him to international stages including CTM, BBC Proms and WOMAD, establishing him as a key voice in contemporary Arabic and experimental music. Alongside his performance and recording career, Allami has become an important figure in discussions around tuning, microtonality and the decolonisation of music technology, developing tools such as the browser-based Leimma and Apotome systems that allow artists to work with non-Western tuning systems in electronic and generative music.
To keep up with the latest updates on ‘Why Do I See You In Everything?’, you can follow the film’s official Instagram profile here.
