May Abdalla is a twice Emmy-nominated director and artist, founder of Anagram, and a leading figure in international immersive nonfiction. Since co-founding Anagram in 2013, she has pioneered work across XR, mixed reality, and large-scale participatory installation, combining documentary, game design, and emerging technology to explore mental health, identity, and social change.
Her ongoing Playing with Reality series, co-directed with Barry Gene Murphy, has received two major Venice Immersive awards—the Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Work for Goliath in 2021, and the Immersive Achievement Prize for Impulse in 2024—as well as two Emmy nominations. Developed with lived-experience contributors, clinicians, and researchers, the work has extended beyond festivals into healthcare training and public engagement, including across the NHS and internationally.
Before moving into XR, May spent more than a decade as a journalist and documentary filmmaker, making investigative work for the BBC, Channel 4, and Al Jazeera across Latin America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. She has served regularly on BAFTA juries for documentary and interactive work and was President of the Venice Immersive jury in 2022.