Perla activates through her expression.
Her work is interdisciplinary, weaving together poetry, music, film, performance, and intimate forms of engagement. Influenced by real-time events that shape her life, her projects explore the intersections of personal experience, collective memory, and social transformation.
Having begun her career in cinematography and production, and later working as a casting director, Perla developed a deep interest in human behavior, emotion, and systems of power—questions first explored through her short film Zugzwang (Yale Student Festival, Beirut International Women Film Festival, Berlin Revolution Film Festival, among others). Her practice creates movement between self and reflection, consciousness and the unconscious, a process she refers to as Wujud (Existence).
Through writing, singing, filmmaking, and visual archiving, Perla explores existential questions surrounding identity, belonging, freedom, and social dogma. Her work invites reflection while opening spaces for dialogue, imagination, and collective responsibility.
She has presented original performances, installations, films, and interventions internationally, bringing together artistic expression and civic engagement. During the Lebanese Revolution, her voice became associated with calls for dignity, justice, and social change. Her artistic and civic work has been featured by The New York Times, Vogue, Reuters, Arte, France Inter, TV5 Monde, RTS, and other international media outlets.
Perla is the main protagonist of the award-winning documentary Diaries from Lebanon, which premiered in the Berlinale Panorama section in 2024 and has since screened internationally. Through her artistic practice, she creates spaces for individual and collective reflection, addressing themes of displacement, mental health, war, memory, and resilience.
As a teaching artist with Materials for the Arts, a program of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, she has led and curated creative workshops, public programs, and community-centered projects. She has also been invited to speak and facilitate at universities and cultural institutions across the Levant, Europe, and the United States, including The New School, American University of Beirut, and Bard College.
Her work advocates for freedom, love, and consciousness through activations, introspection, and human connection. Working across disciplines, she uses voice, image, sound, and participation to create spaces where emotion, memory, and collective experience can be explored with care. Her body of work honors the present while acknowledging individual and collective scars, cultivating empathy as a pathway toward personal and environmental healing.
SELECTED WORKS
• Kello Helo (album, recorded 2018–2019, released 2026)
• Sabahik (Kalimera) (single, 2025)
• The Mandate | وجود العهد (vocal and visual work, 2020)
Soundtrack featured in Beirut 6:07, Episode: Abbas and Fadel
• My Land Is Calling (Beirut 20/21 compilation, 2021)
• Corrupted Matter (vocal, visual, and live intervention, 2021)
• Orientoccitalement de vous connaître (audio installation and collaboration with Gary Germanier)
LIVE WORKS
• Existence | bla bla bla
Film, live poetry, centering, and facilitated discussion
• May We Rest Before We Die
Film and live poetry
• I Write (Aktoubou)
Film and live poetry
LINKS
YouTube: youtube.com/@perlajoem
Vimeo: vimeo.com/perlajoe
Instagram: @perla.joe
Bandcamp: [link]
Diego Ibarra Sanchez for the New York Times
Perla Joe Maalouly
1992 – Beirut, Lebanon / Brooklyn, New York
perla.joe.maalouli@gmail.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST, ACTIVATOR º POET/SINGER º FILMMAKER/PRODUCER º EDUCATOR & COMMUNITY FACILITATOR
Creating work at the intersection of voice, film, collective memory, and social engagement. Through performances, films, installations, publications, and community-based projects, her practice explores belonging, liberation, grief, identity, and collective imagination.
ART PUBLICATIONS ———————————
2025
. Art Exhibition curated by Perla Joe from the Art Program that she led, MFTA at PS41
. A film by Perla Joe: “Between the Aisles” for MFTA NYC, launching at THE SHED
. “Diaries from Lebanon” premiering at La Maison Française NYU
Main Protagonist - Creative Documentary 110min
. Sabahik (Kalimera), a song by Perla Joe in collaboration with a Greek producer
2024
. “Diaries from Lebanon” at the Berlinale / Germany
Main Protagonist - Creative Documentary 110min
. “The Generation Who Dared Say No”
poem/zine published -> Digital Free Accessible Form
. “My Land is Calling”
single published via Perla Joe -> Digital Accessible Form
2023
. “The generation who dared say no”
Zine created -> poetry extract from “Existence | bla bla bla”
. Photography program - exhibit lead and curation for PS141 and Material for the Arts
. Ibrahim Maalouf interviewed by Perla Joe [link]
2022
. Audiophonic Thematic Installation – Chateau Mercier / Switzerland
“Orienccitalement de vous connaître” - meeting between the East and the West
[link to the podcast]
2021
. “Corrupted Matter”, poem/song/video published in August 2021
A personal/collective project for the one-year memorial of the Beirut Explosion
[link to vocal and visual expression]
. “My Land is Calling”, released in May 2021
Album Beirut 20/21, [link to song]
. Letter to my grandmother
Women from the East, March 2021 [link]
2020
. “Within the Essence”, Révoltes, FIFDH, November, page 72, [link to publication]
. “The Mandate - وجود العهد”, vocal and visual expression, November, [link to music video]
Soundtrack - series: Beirut 6:07, Ep. Abbas and Fadel / Emmy Awards nominated
. “Beirut, now what?”, Medium, 27 August, [link to text]
. “Resistillness”, Medium, 8 June, [link to text]
. “Mindfulness, ignorance and what’s numb in-between” Medium, 11 March, [link to text]
2019—Present
. Wujud Beirut — interdisciplinary artistic platform exploring voice, film, collective memory, and social engagement.
2018
. “All is Beautiful - كلو حلو”, a soulful collaborative project, unreleased [private link to album]
. “Pohibaw - Progression of happiness in black and white”, Digital Publication [link]
2015
. “Zugzwang”, [link to short film]
PERFORMANCES ———————————
2025
. Film and Poetry live performance at UnionDocs Brooklyn with ArteEast
. Live Music and Poetry performance at Hikayat event by ArtEast
2024
. Poetry and music session with Perla Joe at No Chef in the Kitchen
. “Existence Bla Bla Bla” was performed in Chashama, Manhattan, NYC
. Atelier New York / BAM / The Festival Academy
Invited to activate the space through grounding and poetry at MFTA
. Live music making and jamming at Abracadabra Magic Diner
2023
. “Existence | bla bla bla” – video projection/live poetic performance / English edition
Presented in Beirut in times of war and reflection on the revolution, October, Beit El Laffe
Presented in Brooklyn in commemoration of the Beirut explosion, August, Hart House
. Video Installation at the Hart House NY “Corrupted Matter” + send prayers / wish wall
. Art Installation with Dance Beyond and Abracadabra Magic Food at Olivebridge NYC
. “May our voices be heard” / interactive installation at tildeathnyc [announcement]
. “Bars for thoughts” V2 & V3, poetry and chants
Sleepwalk / Brooklyn [Link]
2022
. Art Installation with Dance Beyond and Abracadabra Magic Food at Granville
. “Existence | bla bla bla”, video projection/live poetic performance
Presented as a farewell in Beirut, June 2022, Onomatopoeia [Link]
Presented at Château de Goutelas as part of the artistic program “Nafas”
Presented at Château Mercier, Switzerland, as part of the artistic program “Nafas”
. Radio live - “Spécial Liban”” Two spectacles - Reims, Festival “Faraway”, [link to announcement]
. Radio live - “Spécial Liban” Three Spectacles - Lyon, Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse, [link to announcement]
2021
. Live Intervention – Corrupted Matter in repetition – Street Performance
Beirut, August 4th 2021 – Rooftop / City / Sound exposure [Link]
2020
. Beirut Jam Sessions – “Perla Joe / Wujud”, Live Insta Fest [link to announcement]
. Now Beirut – “Perla Joe / In a New Era”, Live acoustic session [link to music video]
2019
. Mar Mikhael, Beirut – “The Revolution of Love” - Public Poetic Intervention
. Mishkal Festival, Masrah Al Madina, Beirut - Live Electronic Oriental Performance
. Tkapart, French Institute, Cairo, Egypt - Live Electronic Oriental Performance [snippet]
. The Corner’s Pub, Amman, Jordan - “Kello Helo”, Live Concert [link to performance]
PANELS, PODCASTS, AND INTERVIEWS ———————————
2025
. Q&A at UnionDocs with ArteEast
. Q&A at UChicago CEFF CHICAGO
. Q&A at Al Bustan Festival PHILADELPHIA
. Q&A at La Maison Francaise NEW YORK CITY
2024
. Arte Documentary “The Heist of the Century”
. Invited speaker to several talks at the Berlinale Film Festival, Germany
2022
. Panel “How do liberty, rights, and justice interfere in creation?”
March 19, alongside Gabriela Golder, Château de Goutelas
. Radio Interview - Radio Nova Lyon - “A Youth Not Resigned” - Perla Joe / Artivist [link]
2021
. Interview, Perla Joe Maalouli: Corrupted Matter
MTV Lebanon, “Alive” TV show, section “happening”, 2 August 2021 [link to interview]
. Podcast, “Autour de Nova à Beyrouth”
Radio Nova Paris, 1 May 2021, [link to podcast]
2020
. Interview, “Génération Demain : Perla Joe Maalouli, la vie en lutte au Liban”
France Inter, 13 October 2020, [link to video]
. Interview, “Being 20 - Perla Joe’s story”
Fawra Media, Open Media Hub, 3 August 2020
. Interview, talk with Lilian Mauthofer and Perla Joe Maalouli, “Thawra”
Art Burst Berlin, 7 July 2020, [link to announcement]
. Panelist, “Women’s face in the revolution”
KYP Community, Beirut, 25 January 2020, [announcement]
. Invited Speaker, International Women’s Day
LibrAdio, Geneva, Switzerland, 8 March 2020 [snippet] [program]
. Panelist, “Locals revolting into a global revolution”
Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) [link]
. Invited Speaker - “Perla Joe Maalouli”
Utopia Podcast, FIFDH, Geneva, 10 March 2020 [link to podcast]
. Interview - Connexion - “Perla Joe Maalouli: Cinéast, artiste, activiste”
Maghreb Orient Express, TV5 France, 13 March 2020 [link to interview]
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT and FACILITATION ———————————
2026
. Facilitating Special Education Field Trips at Materials for the Arts
. Curating, teaching, and exhibiting a visual Art Program with MFTA at MS2
2025
. Facilitating Field Trips at Materials for the Arts
. Earth Day up-cycled art installer at Times Square, NYC with Materials for the Arts
. LIC Springs! up-cycled art installer at Long Island City, NYC with Materials for the Arts
. Bloomberg up-cycled art installer at Bronx Zoo, NYC with Materials for the Arts
. Randall’s Island Park Alliance up-cycled art installer, NYC with Materials for the Arts
. Teaching Artist/Protagonist visitor at the University of Chicago
. Teaching Artist/Protagonist visitor at Al Bustan Seeds Festival in Philadelphia
. Gardening installations with Ruta Rhus
2024
. Teaching artist and activist visitor at Harper Memorial Library
. Roundtable at the University of Chicago Max Palevsky Theater [link]
. Facilitator with Materials for the Arts at the Botanical Gardens for Bloomberg
. Art project participation with Landon Newton at The Socrates Sculptural Park / Queens
. Community mural with a prompt and a collective painting at ChaShama, NYC
. Facilitator with Materials for the Arts at Thrive Festival at Brooklyn Art Council
. Facilitator @ Car Free Earth Day - Times Square - MFTA NYC Dep. of Cultural Affairs
2023
. Family night / creative wellness - lead activation with Materials for the Arts
. Healing You Softly - Art and Community
-> “May Our Voices Be Heard”, an interactive display and visual installation by Perla Joe
. Exhibit facilitator - Cope NYC - Yachukang “Dirt Carpet #15”
. Facilitator at Earth Day pop-up at Herbert Von King Park with MFTA
. Teaching artist at PS141 / image and light curated program
15 sessions + photography exhibition
. Art pop-up with MFTA at Green Fest PS32
. Botanical Garden Bronx art pop-up with Materials for the Arts
. Teaching Artist with Materials for the Arts at PS55 Queens
. Masked Marvelous with MFTA / curating space and experience of rest and engagement
. Machine Dazzle exhibition launch/spin art facilitator
. Invited speaker Pen America Student Summit at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville
“Free Speech Frontiers Around the World”
. Invited Speaker at Student Summit at UTK
. “Free Expression Around the World” / Spring 2023, February
. Class lecturer on “Artistic Freedom of Expression at Pen America, June
. Invited speaker, NYC Institute / Expression Around the World, July / Bard High School
2022
. Leading an atelier in creative expression and movement
Martinique / Palais Chaillot Paris [Link]
. Invited to speak for 40+ college and high school students from around the US and abroad
Free Expression Advocacy Institute, Pen America / Fall 2022 Brooklyn
. Invited speaker, art, justice, and human rights
Cultural Center of Leisure, Boen, March 2022
. Invited speaker, art, justice, and human rights
Volubilis Center, Montbrison, March 2022
. Workshop Leader at Ateliers “Faber Mazlish” / Creative Expression and Humanity
. Invited speaker “Perrot D’Ablancourt College”
“The Lebanese between crisis and desire for liberty”
With Villa Nova, Reims, 4 February
. Invited speaker “Reims Academy”
“CLEMI - Centre of education of media and information”
With Villa Nova, “Inform yourself to understand the world”, 4 February
. Invited Speaker for an open discussion with students, Vertical Architecture studio
Semester Project: “There will be blood”, American University of Beirut, 14 February 2020
ARTICLES and ANNOUNCEMENTS ———————————
2025
. NYU Announcement Screening and Q&A with Perla Joe [link]
. About Her Article discussing Perla Joe’s character in ”Diaries from Lebanon” [link]
. Rhoden Arts Center, announcement of Perla Joe and the film [link]
2024
. Berlinale announcement [link]
. MAD Solutions trailer release [link]
. IDA Documentary Magazine [link]
. Hot Docs Announcement [link]
. The National News [link]
. The Film Verdict [link]
. Film Uforia coverage of “Diaries from Lebanon: [link]
. This is Beirut / French Institute announcement [link]
. Marrakech Film Festival [link]
. Seeds of Culture / Philadelphia [link]
. Moviemento [link]
. International Cinephile Society ICS [link]
. Arts of Lebanon Festival [link]
. Goethe-Institute article [link]
. Lebanese Film Festival [link]
. Mad Film Press [link]
. Arab News [link]
. Cineuropa Article [link]
. Lebanese Film Festival Australia [link]
. Variety article [link]
2023
. Vision Sud Est [link]
. Artist at Risk Connection - Perla Joe Maalouly / Relocated [link]
. Sierre, Sortir “Bienvenue chez Gary Germanier” [link]
2022
. Orient-Occident 10E Edition, Sierre, Switzerland [link]
. “Le combat inachevé et continu des féministes de la thaoura ”
L’Orient Le Jour, 22 Octobre 2022 [Link]
. “Building a creative revolution”
Lëtzebuerger Journal, April 2022, [Link]
2021
. “Deux ans après la révolution, le Liban effondré veut se refonder ”
Libération, 13 Octobre 2021, [link]
. “L’autre bataille, dans l’art, de Perla Joe Maalouli”
L’Orient Le Jour, 7 August 2021, [link]
2020 – 2019
. “Thawra”, a feminist movement
48h Neukölln art festival BOOM, Art Burst Berlin, Lilian Mauthofer [link]
. Liban : en ville comme à la campagne, la population appelle à "la révolution"
France Info, 16 January 2020, [link to article]
. “Les Libanais écœurés par la descente aux enfers de leur pays”
Le Figaro, 19 October 2020, [link to article]
. “Wie viel kann ein Mensch ertragen?”, Blick TV [link to article]
. “A catalyst for revolution”, Vogue, 6 August 2020, [link to article]
. “Perla Joe, la révolution de l’intérieur”, Le Temps, 7 March 2020, [link to article]
. “In Her Words”, The New York Times, 6 February 2020, [link to article]
. “Gardienne de(s) but(s) de la révolution”
. “Perla Joe Maalouli, gardienne de(s) but(s) de la révoution”
L’Orient Le Jour, 9 December 2019, [link to article]
. “Lebanon slips deeper into crisis”, Reuters, 17 November 2019 [link to article]
ARTIST PORTRAITS in VIDEO, PHOTOS, and MAIN CHARACTER ———————————
2019-present
. Main Protagonist – Diaries from Lebanon (110 min), directed by Myriam El Hajj. World Premiere at Berlinale Panorama 2024, [link to information]
2024
. Trailer of “Diaries from Lebanon” with Perla Joe singing
. Character in “Les Escales / Témoins” - Society Edi8 - France, Paris
. Mention on International Women’s Day by Mad Solution Film Official
2023
. Portrait by Yasmeen Farah / D.A.D.A.
2020
. Photo Portraits, “Thawra” publication, Lilian Mauthofer, [link to publication]
. “Artistes à Beyrouth: Perla Joe Maalouli, cinéaste et activiste, une des figures de la révolution libanaise”
Radio Television Suisse (RTS), 28 August, [link to interview]
2019
. “Liban le peuple demande des comptes”
Arte TV Caravelle Productions, 19 Novembre, [link to documentary]
. “Singing the Song of the Revolution: Perla Joe Maalouli”
Womena, 23 December, [link to video]
. “The Revolution of Love in Lebanon: Perla Joe Maalouli”
Womena, 26 December, [link to video]
. “30 Artists Inspired by the Thawra”, photo portraits by Monique Chebli
2013
. Beyond the cloth: “The Kafiye Project”, Kaflab, Chady Younes photo portraits
[link to photo portraits]
FILMMAKING, CASTING, and PRODUCTION ———————————
2025
. Filmed, edited, and produced “Between the Ailes,” a 13-minute film for MFTA, a program of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs [link]
. Coordinated production logistics for FORA Live Forum with Moonage at Knockdown Center, supporting two consecutive editions of the event (2024–2025)
. Filmed and edited Third Thursday programming for Materials for the Arts
. Filmed the Bus project with MFTA and the Department of Cultural Affairs
2014-NOW
. Collection of Visual and Audio-phonic archives of people/spaces across the globe
2024
. Metropolis Art Cinema Screening [link]
. Ongoing filming for Materials for the Arts / Documentary 2025
. Projection of Perla Joe’s short films at ChaShama NYC, Manhattan
. Filming Emel Mathlouthi during her Album Launch MRA at Public Records NYC
. Filming Haleh Liza Gafori at Joe’s Pub + Le Poisson Rouge (LPR)
2023
. Filming Simi Yuyu at the Sound Mind Live
2013 / 2022
. Filming Randy Bloom at Emerge Gallery & Art Space at the Hudson Valley
. Filmmaker (producer, director, videographer, editor, colorist) [link to showcase]
. Director / Director of Photography [link to showcase]
2013 / 2018
. Casting Director (music videos, short films, TV and digital advertising) [link to showcase]
AWARDS and EDUCATION ———————————
2026 Percussion classes
2025 “Diaries from Lebanon” opening act in Manhattan, at NYU
2025 Selected member of the inaugural Brooklyn Maqam Arabic Choir, NYAC
2025 Arabic philosophy and linguistics sessions
2024 Winner of the 12th Silk Road International Festival - Best Documentary [link]
2024 Official Selection @ Festival Cine Libanes / Latin America
2024 Special mention Quality of subject treatment / Geneva International Oriental Film Festival
2024 Champs-Élysée Film Festival, Paris, “Diaries from Lebanon” Big Jury Prize / France
2024 Selected at Sarajevo Film Festival / 30th edition
2024 Tofifest 22nd Edition / Poland, “Diaries from Lebanon” official selection
2024 DOXA 23rd Edition / Canada, “Diaries from Lebanon” official selection
2024 Hot Docs 31st Edition / Canada, “Diaries from Lebanon” official selection
2024 Visions du Réel 55th Edition, “Diaries from Lebanon” official selection
2024 World premiere of “Diaries from Lebanon” / 74th Berlinale / Panorama
2024 Mad Solutions World Sales of “Diaries from Lebanon” [link]
2023 Juror at the Mermaid Parade
2022 Journalism Formation – Annahar Academy
2022 Artist Residency - Château de Goutelas (1 month / France - March)
2022 Artist Residency - Villa Ruffieux (1 month / Switzerland - April)
2021 Beirut & Beyond - Music Support Program, Beirut, Lebanon
2021 Music Copyright and Royalties - Musicians Support Program, Khyam Allami
2019 In The Moment: Conceptual Portraits, Salma El Kashef, Photopia, Cairo
2018 Winner of the editing award, Yale College of Arts, for “Zugzwang” a short satirical film
2017 Completed 12/18 credits toward an M.A. in Filmmaking / Cinematography
2015 Bachelor of Audio/Visual Arts, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon
2008-2015 National team goalkeeper; USEK Futsal Championship, Multiple Best Goalkeeper Awards
2013-2016 Best Woman Goalkeeper in Lebanon for three years in a row
2014 International University League, USEK won, with Perla Joe protecting its goal
2010 Associate of Arts Interior Design, Sagesse Technique, Lebanon