EMA SHAH

Ema Shah is a multi-talented Kuwaiti performer whose anthropological approach to music and civil society activism have made her one of the Arab world’s most courageous celebrities. Appearing regularly on al-Arabiya and MTV Middle East, Ema sings, composes, plays piano and guitar, acts, writes, dances, and directs. Her shorts have been internationally honored, including at the 2015 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in Hollywood (Best Music Video), 2014 Winter Film Awards in New York City (Best Music Video), and 2014 Twickenham Alive Riverside Film Festival in London (International Drama Award). Ema’s song “Aleqini” earned the Bronze Medal at the 2015 Global Music Awards. In 2010, as part of an effort to bridge cultural divides in her homeland, Ema performed Dalida’s French/Hebrew rendition of Hava Nagila and songs by Enrico Macias, the Algerian-born, French-Jewish musical legend and recipient of ASF’s 2014 Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts, at a two-day Kuwait University Alumni Club folk music concert. Rejecting demands that she censor the program and charges that performing in Hebrew is offensive and tantamount to treason, Ema, a member of The Kuwaiti Society for Human Rights, asserted her right to freedom of expression and defended the power of music to “connect people around the world and remove barriers created by extremists who oppose freedom, liberalism and democracy.” Other memorable performances include a 2012 concert for Kuwait’s Prince Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmed al-Sabah, various events for the United Nations, and the lead in Saudi Director Mohammed al-Saber’s Who Killed Sarah, which premièred at the 2015 Dubai International Film Festival.