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Faces of Palestinian Cinema

Step into the captivating world of Palestinian cinema, a realm where storytelling and artistic expression converge to create compelling narratives.

  • 37 filmmakers
  • Born 1915–1996
  • 3 from Nazareth
Tarzan and Arab Nasser at Cannes, accepting the Un Certain Regard directing awardTarzan and Arab Nasser at Cannes, accepting the Un Certain Regard directing award
Al-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque, RamallahAl-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque, Ramallah
Filmmaker Buthina Canaan KhouryFilmmaker Buthina Canaan Khoury
Photos: Jennifer 8. Lee (CC BY-SA 4.0), Djex93 (CC BY-SA 4.0), AfricanadeCuba (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

About Cinema

Turning the camera around.

For decades, others filmed Palestine. In 1968 Sulafa Jadallah, Hani Jawharieh and Mustafa Abu Ali founded the Palestine Film Unit to film it themselves, and Sulafa Jadallah became the first Palestinian woman behind the camera.

A new cinema followed. Elia Suleiman won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2002, Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now won a Golden Globe, and in 2008 Annemarie Jacir made the first feature film directed by a Palestinian woman. Farah Nabulsi’s short film The Present won a BAFTA.

The people in this path direct, act, write and film. They make sure Palestinians are seen on screen as they see themselves.

All 37 filmmakers

Every face in Cinema, from the earliest pioneers to the voices of today.

Born across the decades

Tap a decade to filter · 2 without a recorded birth year

  1. 1910s
  2. 1920s
  3. 1930s
  4. 1940s
  5. 1950s
  6. 1960s
  7. 1970s
  8. 1980s
  9. 1990s

37 filmmakers

Showing 20 of 37