How Old Is Ousama Rawi? Ousama Rawi Birthday
Ousama Rawi was born on March 3, 1939 and is 85 years old now.
Birthday: March 3, 1939
How Old - Age: 85
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Ousama Rawi - Biography
Born: 3 March (or May) 1939, Baghdad, Iraq.Career: 'Ousama Rawi was born in Iraq, but was schooled in Scotland and began his film career as a 'tea boy' for a commercial production house in London. He discovered that the best way to move upwards was to make friends in the film business and get a little lucky. "While I was a glorified PA making tea," Rawi remembered, "I befriended a would-be director, somebody who had a penny or two and was going to shoot a short film. I told him I would shoot it for free and I had access to equipment. At the commercial production house, I made friends with editors and people at the rental houses and labs who told me 'if you want to borrow a camera or purchase a roll of film, we'll get it for you.' "So I shot the film for him, and the editors at the commercial house gave their time to cut the half-hour short. Then [the young director] submitted it to the selection committee of the Cannes short film festival. It went in as one of two British entries, and to my surprise it actually won second prize. Rank Film Distributors chose the short to open the program for the 1965 feature 'The Collector'. "So now I was a 'tea boy' with a film I had shot on the circuit with 'The Collector'. I guess I must have been 20 or 21." Rawi next moved to a regional television station as a newsreel cameraman where "I got my union card." After about 14 months, he moved to London as a freelance cinematographer "calling myself a DP and hoping someone would give me a break." It came as a commercial for a hair product, Brylcreem, which the director said even he could light. "That was my first experience working on a real job that wasn't newsreel." Two or three weeks later, the director called Rawi to shoot another commercial, then another. "Soon other companies were using me and before I knew it I was a busy commercial cameraman." The cinematographer's first feature was Mike Hodges's 1971 crime thriller 'Pulp', starring Michael Caine, from United Artists. UA was initially opposed to the unknown Rawi as DOP, but Caine, one of the co-producers, was persuaded by industry friends to hire the young shooter. It was just about the time 'Pulp' was released that Rawi was invited to join the British Society of Cinematographers. Rawi's introduction to Canada came in 1977 as director of photography on the UK/Canada co-production 'Power Play'. Writer/director Martyn Burke, a Canadian, initially shot scenes in Germany, to be followed by the rest of the shoot in Toronto. However, money problems shelved the project until 1977, when Rawi crossed the Atlantic to film the balance of the picture. During those eight to nine weeks, Rawi met several Canadian producers and, shortly after returning to the U.K., he was offered a 12-month contract to shoot commercials in Canada. He then joined two commercial producers to form a production company and "in the blink of an eye, 10 years went by." Finally, "I had to get back to long form because I missed it terribly." He moved to Los Angeles in 1994, but maintained a home in Toronto and now travels back and forth for personal and professional reasons.' [Don Angus]Ph & directed numerous commercials.Joined the CSC in 1981.Was married [1981-96] to actress Rita Tushingham.Appeared in the doc 'Borgia Diaries' [2011, Michael Driscoll; 6m53s].Awards: As doph: CSC Award TV Drama nom [2002] for 'Ruby's Bucket of Blood'; CSC TV Series Cinematography Award [2008] & 'Gemini' Award [2008] for 'The Tudors' [ep #6, 1st season]; ASC TV Award nom [2008], CSC TV Series Cinematography Award [2009] & 'Gemini' Award nom [2009] for 'The Tudors' [ep #1, 2nd season]; CSC TV Drama Cinematography Award [2011] for 'Ben Hur' [Night 2]; 'Emmy' Award nom [2010] & CSC TV Series Cinematography Award [2011] for 'The Tudors' [ep #10, 4th season].As dir: Mystfest 'Best Film' nom [1987] for 'A Judgment in Stone'.
