A nostalgic, character-driven set transformation exploring intimacy, memory, and unfinished history

Three Years Later

TIMELINE & TEAM

Short film scene; currently in post production.

Production Designer: Bahar Goel
Writer and Director: Abdullahi Ali
1st Assistant Director: Baker Al-bach
Director of Photography: Zeyad Abouzeid
Producer: Rosa Riad
Sound: Yousef Moussa
Actors: Bassem, Laura Cardeno

ABOUT & VISUAL DIRECTION

Three Years Later explores what happens when you return home after years away and realize the world moved on without you. When Rex reconnects with old friends and the girl he never got over, it becomes clear that letting go of the past isn’t simple. It is a story about growth, regret, and the messy beauty of reconnecting when nothing is the same, but everything still matters.

As Production Designer and Art Director, I executed a ground-up transformation turning a sterile apartment bathroom into an intimate, Tumblr-era sanctuary. In the film's world, the room serves as a secret hideout where two characters built their shared history years prior.

To build that emotional time capsule, I covered cold tile with layered tapestries and rugs, hand-drew nostalgic wall doodles and lyrics, and curated lived-in ephemera—from 35mm film rolls and instant photos to warm, ambient orb lighting that isolates the space from the party outside.