Joe Balass (born in Baghdad, Iraq) is an Iraqi Canadian filmmaker.
[3] Balass escaped from Iraq with his family at age four, and eventually settled in Canada.
He has directed a number of short films and videos including; Tattoo Needle Pricks, On a Very Violet Night in the Apartements Daphne, Nana, George & me, which won a Télé-Québec Award at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois (RVCQ) in Montreal, and The Devil in the Holy Water.
The filmmaker's mother recounts their family's experiences, and the film is illustrated with Balass family home movies and photos and rare archival footage from Iraq.
In 2013, he directed the documentary La longueur de l'alphabet avec Naïm Kattan about the Canadian writer of Iraqi Jewish origin Naïm Kattan.