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Born in 1974, Elie Barakat, known artistically as Noir, is a filmmaker, visual artist, and educator whose work bridges photography, cinema, and conceptual research. His artistic vision revolves around the paradox of presence and absence in images and the timeless pursuit of beauty across visual forms.
Between 2017 and 2024, Noir presented four solo photography exhibitions—When I Looked At You, It’s Not All Hearts and Flowers, As I Walked Along the Beach, and I Saw a Tree and I Waited for You to See It—each exploring intimacy, memory, and perception through the photographic image. His film work has also been widely recognized: the short documentary Eme-Li won Best Lebanese Documentary, while Shadows in a Frame (شو بيبقى) received a Special Mention for Best Asian Narrative at the GUFA Festival in Hong Kong. Other projects include the experimental short Borha and his recent film Only When It Rains.
Holding a BA in Cinema Studies from USEK and an MS in Filmmaking from the Lebanese University, Noir has combined academic formation with professional practice. Since 2023, he has been a Professor of Cinema at USEK, contributing to the Department of Cinema and Television in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
At the Fine Art Photography Academy (FAPA), Noir teaches across both the photography and film departments, offering courses in Conceptual Photography, Documentary Photography, Photoroman, Introduction to Filmmaking, and Filmmaking. His approach emphasizes not only technique but also the philosophical and poetic dimensions of visual storytelling, inspiring students to see images as vessels of meaning, memory, and emotion.
Through his dual career as an artist and educator, Noir continues to shape Lebanon’s contemporary visual culture—mentoring future generations of photographers and filmmakers while pushing the boundaries of how beauty and absence are rendered on screen and on paper.