Muriel Aboulrouss

Muriel Aboulrouss began her career in 1997 as an award-winning cinematographer working across commercials, short films, feature films, and documentary series.

After earning international recognition for her visual work, she made a decisive artistic shift in 2012, stepping away from traditional cinematography to pursue a more meaningful and human-centered creative path. This led to the creation of the Intuitive FilmLab, a program dedicated to empowering emerging filmmakers to develop authentic, emotionally grounded, and intuitive cinematic language.

Her evolution continued with Zyara (2014), the experimental documentary series she co-created, which has won 50 international awards and is widely recognized for its innovative form and its role as a tool for youth empowerment and social healing. Since 2023, Muriel has fully embraced producing for independent artists, driven by a deep commitment to artistic freedom, integrity, and the transformative power of truthful storytelling.

She continues to teach across the MENA region, mentor filmmakers, consult for agencies and independent creators, and contribute to international training programs, including TorinoFilmLab’s Red Sea Lodge and the SPARK Series Program at the Amman International Film Festival.

Muriel’s Manifesto

For the Intuitive FilmLab, for the path of liberated creation.

I do what I do because I refuse to believe that we are born only to survive.
I believe we are born to feel, to remember, to create.

In a world that asks us to fit in, I create spaces that ask us to break open.
Where art is not a product, but a path to self.
Where filmmaking is not a race, but a ritual.
Where intuition replaces instruction, and feeling is more trusted than form.

The Intuitive FilmLab is my rebellion.
Not against cinema, but against everything that silences the soul of it.
It is where artists unlearn the noise and hear their inner rhythm again.
It is where permission is irrelevant, because truth already lives within.

I do what I do because freedom is real.
But it’s not easy. It’s not handed to us. It’s chosen, every day, with courage.
It demands responsibility, presence, and unwavering self-faith.
Most fear it.
I build for those who don’t.

I respect the systems around me but I refuse to shrink inside them.
I respect others’ choices but I can’t betray my own knowing.
I will build the bridge.
And I will walk it first.
Not to be followed but to light the way.

I do what I do because I know:
We can be free and successful.
We can be authentic and abundant.
We can create from the heart and still thrive.
And until I become the proof, I will be the invitation.

Because there’s a bridge.
I want to build it. Come and join me, let’s build together.
The Intuitive Film Lab is designed as a borderless, international program, an ever-expanding platform to explore and evolve emotional audiovisual language. Its purpose is to connect with intuitive artists from across the globe, cultivating a shared creative space where instinct, authenticity, and cinematic expression transcend cultural and geographic boundaries. That is exactly where we’re headed: toward a vibrant global constellation of intuitive filmmakers.

Muriel Aboulrouss

Cinematography

Muriel Aboulrouss began her career in 1997 as an award-winning cinematographer working across commercials, short films, feature films, and documentary series.

Directing Reel

Muriel’s directorial debut since 2014, a short form poetic series, more than 100 Zyara episodes with 50 international awards around the world.

For the Free Ones

To hold space for the artists, dreamers, and filmmakers walking their lonely path toward freedom and self-love, those who refuse to compromise their truth for belonging.

To remind them that their sensitivity, their doubt, their rebellion, and their silence are sacred parts of becoming free.

“You’re not alone on your path. Your spark is still alive. Keep creating, the world needs your freedom.”

Teaching Around the World

Muriel conducts trainings and workshops around the world for directors and cinematographers about a myriad of topics including cinematography and intuitive filmmaking.

In Art as in Life

7 short episodes – Inspired by Muriel’s diaries, written during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.