Mahdi Khmili is a Tunisian filmmaker, visual storyteller, poet, photographer, and multidisciplinary artist. Born in August 1994, he grew up in Tunisia and developed an early sense of independence through working different jobs and engaging with people and communities from different backgrounds.
His artistic journey began with poetry and storytelling during his teenage years. Writing became a way for him to understand society, explore human emotions, and reflect on the world around him. Over time, he expanded his practice into photography and filmmaking, discovering new ways to translate stories, emotions, and ideas into visual experiences.
Khmili's work brings together filmmaking, photography, poetry, and visual art, with a strong focus on people, culture, identity, and stories that are often overlooked. As a filmmaker and visual storyteller, he is interested in the human side of every story, creating work that connects the viewer with its subjects and places through an intimate and documentary-driven approach.
His work has been featured in exhibitions, festivals, books, and magazines. In 2016, he received the I Watch Organization Poetry Performance Award. In 2014, his short film Social Suicide received the SIFF Content Award at the Eye to Heart Film Festival. In 2013, his short documentary People of Tunisia won first prize at the National Film Festival for Schools.
In the years since, Khmili's practice has grown into international video production, working as a producer, director and cinematographer on travel, lifestyle and culinary content for outlets including Condé Nast Traveler, filming across the Middle East and beyond. He has also served as Director of Photography on documentary and artist collaborations, including Perception, a feature documentary following eL Seed's mural project in Cairo, and continues to document communities and personal stories on independent projects, including a 37-day documentary living in the village of Giranchaur, Nepal.
Today, Mahdi Khmili continues to work across filmmaking, visual storytelling, photography, and poetry, constantly exploring new mediums and techniques. His practice is driven by a desire to document people and cultures, tell meaningful human stories, and create visual work that stays with the viewer long after they have seen it.