A multi-award-winning film music composer whose versatile style spans genres, and whose music — described by the BBC as “reflective and touching” — has deeply moved audiences worldwide. With more than 60 works across feature films, shorts, and television, her scores have been showcased at leading festivals, including Venice, Locarno, Hot Docs, Edinburgh, Dubai, and Clermont-Ferrand. A board member of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada, she was previously selected for Cannes’ Spot the Composer Program and SESAC’s Film Scoring Residency in Los Angeles. Throughout her career, Suad Bushnaq has been honored with numerous awards, including two Canadian Screen Music Awards: Best Original Score for David Attenborough’s SECRET WORLD OF SOUND and Best Original Main Title Theme for the Syrian series AL-BATAL. She also won Hollywood Music in Media Awards for HOTEL BEIRUT and her orchestral piece TOMORROW. Among her credits are HANGING GARDENS, which world premiered at Venice before becoming Iraq’s Oscar submission; and FLIGHT 404, an Egyptian box-office hit and Oscar entry, as well as Saudi Netflix titles CRASHING EID, FROM THE ASHES, BASMA, and HOBAL, reflecting her diverse artistic voice.
YUNAN: Bushnaq had her fifth Canadian Screen Awards nomination for the original score of Ameer Fakher Eldin’s YUNAN, which premiered as the only Arab film in the official competition of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, and went on to screen at over 25 international festivals, earning numerous awards.
KENTUCKY GAZA: Bushnaq’s latest short as a composer, inspired by the surreal story of smuggling KFC through tunnels into besieged Gaza, world premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
AMERICAN DOCTOR (2026): Bushnaq composed the original score for this documentary from Poh Si Teng, which premiered at the 42nd Sundance Film Festival before screening at festivals like CPH:DOX and San Francisco.
Alliance for Women Film Composers: She has been elected to the board.
El Gouna Jury Member: At the eighth edition of the El Gouna Film Festival, Bushnaq served as a jury member for the Short Films competition.
