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{{short description|Palestinian Arab Israeli actor and film director (born 1953)}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Mohammad Bakri<br>محمد بكري<br>מוחמד בכרי
| name = Mohammad Bakri
| image = Bakri10.JPG
| image = Mohammad Bakri.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| imagesize =
| caption = Mohammad Bakri, 16 March 2010
| caption = Mohammad Bakri, 2010
| birthname = Mohammad Bakri
| birthname = Mohammad Bakri
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1953}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1953|11|27}}
| birth_place = [[Shaghur#Bi'ina|Bi'ina]], [[Israel]]
| birth_place = [[Bi'ina]], Israel
| alma_mater = [[Tel Aviv University]]
| spouse =
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| domesticpartner =
| yearsactive = 1983-present
| yearsactive = 1983–present
}}
}}
'''Mohammad Bakri''' (born 1953; {{lang-ar|محمد بكري}}, {{lang-he|מוחמד בכרי}}; also spelled ''Mohammed'' or ''Muhammad'') is an [[Palestinian-Arab 48]] actor <ref name = "NYT04">{{cite news
'''Mohammad Bakri''' (born 1953; {{lang-ar|محمد بكري}}, {{lang-he|מוחמד בכרי}}) is a [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] actor and film director.<ref name="Bakri">[http://www.webgaza.net/palestine/people_profiles/Bakri_Mohammad.htm Biography] Mohammad Bakri Official Website.</ref>
| title = Arts briefing
| first = Lawrence
| last = Van Gelder
| url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E6DB1431F932A3575AC0A9629C8B63
| newspaper = [[The New York Times]]
| date = September 1, 2004
| accessdate = September 21, 2010
| quote = Israel's High Court has overturned a ban on a “Jenin, Jenin,” a documentary film by the Israeli Arab Mohammad Bakri about the Israeli Army's retaliatory invasion of a West Bank refugee camp where scores of Palestinians and Israelis were killed in 2002. In its decision the court, though calling the film a “propagandistic lie,” said the Israeli film board did not have “a monopoly over truth.”
}}
</ref> and director, known throughout Israel and the [[Arab world]].


==Early life==
==Personal life==
Bakri was born in the [[Arab]] village of [[Shaghur#Bi'ina|Bi'ina]] in North-West Israel in 1953. He went to elementary school in his hometown and received his secondary education in the nearby city of [[Akko|Acre]]. He studied acting and [[Arabic literature]] at [[Tel Aviv University]] in 1973 and graduated three years later.<ref name="Bakri">[http://www.mohammadbakri.com/biography.php?lang=en Biography] Mohammad Bakri Official Website.</ref>{{Dead link|date=September 2010}}
Bakri was born in the village of [[Bi'ina]] in Israel. He went to elementary school in his hometown and received his secondary education in the nearby city of [[Akko]]. He studied acting and [[Arabic literature]] at [[Tel Aviv University]] in 1973 and graduated three years later.<ref name="Bakri"/>


Bakri is married to Leila<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/st/inter/Heng/magazine/new_face/f200913/index_eng%20_no_ad.html "The Face | Mohammad Bakri"], ''[[Haaretz]]'' Magazine.</ref> and together they have six children. His sons [[Adam Bakri|Adam]], [[Ziad Bakri|Ziad]] and [[Saleh Bakri]] are also actors.
==Actor and filmmaker==
Bakri began his professional acting career in plays in several theaters in [[Israel]] and the [[West Bank]] notably the [[Habima Theatre]] in [[Tel Aviv]], the [[Haifa]] theater and [[al-Kasaba]] theater in [[Ramallah]]. During this period he became well-known as a star in Palestinian film and Israeli television. His one-man plays, "The Pessoptimist," 1986, "The Anchor," 1991, "[[Season of Migration to the North]] 1993," and "Abu Marmar," 1999, were performed as often in Hebrew as in Arabic, a reflection of his early wish to "tell the truth of Palestinian history – and tell it first and foremost to Israelis."{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}}


==Acting and film career==
After a few years of acting in [[Palestinian cinema|Palestinian]] and [[Israeli film]], Bakri began to act in international films in countries such as [[France]], [[Belgium]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Denmark]] and [[Canada]]. Bakri also directed two [[documentary films]] including the controversial "[[Jenin, Jenin]]". Almost all of Bakri's films were influenced by the [[Palestinian-Israeli conflict]] and internal struggles of the [[Palestinian people]].<ref name="Bakri"/>{{Dead link|date=September 2010}}
Bakri began his professional acting career in with [[Habima Theatre]] in [[Tel Aviv]], [[Haifa]] theater and [[al-Kasaba]] theater in [[Ramallah]]. His one-man plays, ''The Pessoptimist'' (1986), ''The Anchor'' (1991), ''[[Season of Migration to the North]]'' (1993) and ''Abu Marmar'' (1999), were performed in Hebrew and Arabic.


After a few years of acting in [[Palestinian cinema|Palestinian]] and [[Israeli film]], Bakri began to act in international films in [[France]], [[Belgium]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Denmark]], [[Canada]] and [[Italy]]. Bakri also directed two [[documentary films]], including the controversial ''[[Jenin, Jenin]]''.
==''Jenin Jenin'' controversy==
{{Main|Jenin, Jenin}}
During [[Operation Defensive Shield]] in April 2002, the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] invaded a [[Palestinian refugee camp]] in [[Jenin]]. Nine percent of the camp was leveled and over 50 people were killed. According to the spokesmen for the Israeli military, the IDF refused to allow journalists, human rights and humanitarian organizations into the camp for "safety reasons" during the fighting, leading to a rapid cycle of rumors that a massacre had occurred. Jenin remained sealed for days after the invasion. Stories of civilians being buried alive in their homes as they were demolished, and of smoldering buildings covering crushed bodies, spread throughout the [[Arab world]]. Various casualty figures circulated, reaching into the mid-hundreds.


==Controversy==
Bakri entered the camp as soon as was feasible, and in the midst of great controversy and confusion over the results of the invasion, in both the Arabic and Hebrew press, began to collect oral testimony from Jenin residents. Out of this effort came the film ''[[Jenin Jenin]]'', documenting both the trauma of the survivors, and an utterly wasted camp. Some of the survivors described a massacre of hundreds of people. Bakri did not interview Israeli officials.<ref name="Izenberg">Dan Izenberg, [http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1189411423305 "Jenin Jenin now in court"] ''Jerusalem Post,'' September 17, 2007</ref> The film title referenced Palestinian taxidrivers calling "Ramallah, Ramallah, Ramallah," or "Jenin! Jenin!" to Palestinian workers and travellers moving through [[Israeli checkpoint]]s.
After [[Operation Defensive Shield]] in April 2002, Bakri interviewed residents of the Jenin refugee camp and produced a film based on their testimony, ''Jenin, Jenin''. Some of the survivors described a massacre of hundreds of people.<ref name="Izenberg">{{cite news |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel/jenin-jenin-now-in-court |title='Jenin, Jenin', now in court |last=Izenberg |first=Dan |date=17 September 2007 |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |access-date=17 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117193144/https://www.jpost.com/israel/jenin-jenin-now-in-court |archive-date=17 January 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> After three showings the film was banned by the Israeli Film Board, which claimed it was not a documentary as it showed only one side of the story. Nevertheless, Bakri showed the film at the [[Tel Aviv]] and [[Jerusalem]] cinematheques and Arab theaters such as Al-Midan in [[Haifa]].<ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/2007/6/22/acclaimed_palestinian_actor_mohammad_bakri_faces "Acclaimed Palestinian Actor Mohammad Bakri Faces Trial in Israel for Documentary 'Jenin, Jenin{{'"}}], ''[[Democracy Now!]]'', 22 June 2007.</ref>


Bakri petitioned the High Court of Justice for prohibiting the screening of the film on the grounds that it distorted the truth. After a long fight, the court rejected the censor's decision. In 2004, the Israeli High Court finally upheld its earlier overturn of the ban, but joined the Film Board in labeling the film a "propagandistic lie", based on Israeli sources that acknowledged only 52 Palestinian deaths, 38 of whom Israeli sources argued were armed fighters.<ref name="Izenberg"/> In response to the court's criticism, Bakri stated that he had "seen hundreds of films that deny and ignore what happened to Palestinians, yet [people haven't] complained or tried to ban any film."<ref>[http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/politics/israeli-society/4095-im-tirtzu-attempts-to-silence-dissent-in-israel.html Silencing Dissent in Israel] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130703162711/http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/politics/israeli-society/4095-im-tirtzu-attempts-to-silence-dissent-in-israel.html |date=3 July 2013 }} 26 January 2012, [[Alternative News]].</ref>
Soon after it was released, after only three showings, ''Jenin Jenin'' was banned by the Israeli Film Board in 2002, accusing the film of being libelous for calling itself a documentary despite documenting only one 'side' of the story. Nevertheless, Bakri showed the film at the [[Tel Aviv]] and [[Jerusalem]] cinemateques and at Arab theaters such as Al-Midan in [[Haifa]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}}


In 2007, five soldiers who fought in the Jenin refugee camp during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 sued the cinematheques in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for screening the film in the midst of the ban, and sued Bakri for 2.5 million NIS for producing the film.<ref name="Izenberg"/> In July 2008, Bakri was acquitted of the charges.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderman |first=Nirit |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006411.html |title=I lie to save people |work=Haaretz|date=2011-02-16 |access-date=2011-08-02}}</ref>
Bakri petitioned the High Court of Justice against the censor for prohibiting the screening of the film on the grounds that it distorted the truth. After a long fight, the court rejected the censor's decision. In 2004, the Israeli High Court finally upheld its earlier overturn of the ban, but joined the Film Board in labeling the film a "propagandistic lie," based on Israeli sources which acknowledged only 52 Palestinian deaths, 38 of whom Israeli sources argued were armed fighters.<ref name="Izenberg"/>


''Jenin-Jenin'' earned two awards: the best film award at the [[Carthage Film Festival|Carthage International Film Festival]], 2002, and the International Prize for Mediterranean Documentary Filmmaking and Reporting.
In 2007, five soldiers who fought in the Jenin refugee camp during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 sued the cinamatheques in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for screening the film in the midst of the ban, and sued Bakri for 2.5 million NIS for producing the film.<ref name="Izenberg"/> In July 2008 Bakri was acquitted of the charges.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderman |first=Nirit |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006411.html |title='I lie to save people' |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=2011-02-16 |accessdate=2011-08-02}}</ref>


Israeli right-wing group [[Im Tirtzu]] organized a campaign against Bakri. Im Tirtzu opposed a production of [[Federico García Lorca]]'s ''[[The House of Bernarda Alba]]'' in which Bakri played the role of Bernarda. The play was produced in 2012 at [[Tel Aviv]]'s Tzavta Theater. Israel's Academy of the Performing Arts was behind the production. While refusing Im Tirtzu's request to intervene, Culture Minister [[Limor Livnat]] criticized the judgment of the theater's administration.<ref>{{cite news |title=Behind the curtain of a right-wing campaign against an Israeli-Arab actor |first=Michael |last=Handelzalts |url=http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/behind-the-curtain-of-a-right-wing-campaign-against-an-israeli-arab-actor-1.410100
''Jenin-Jenin'' earned two awards: the "Best Film" award at the Carthage International Film Festival, 2002, and the International Prize for Mediterranean Documentary Filmmaking and Reporting.
|newspaper=Haaretz |date=2012-01-31 |access-date=2012-01-31}}</ref>


==Filmography==
[[Iyad Samoudi]], the film's Executive Producer, was killed at [[Alyamoun]] at the end of the filming by Israeli soldiers on 23 June 2002.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}


==Family==
Bakri is married with six children. His son [[Saleh Bakri]] is following in his father's footsteps, currently having a young acting career. He won the Best Supporting Actor award from the Israeli Film Academy for his role in the movie, ''[[The Band's Visit]]'' (2007) and has gained international attention with his debut role in the Arabic film ''[[Salt of this Sea]]'' (2008).<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2759746/ Saleh Bakri] Internet Movie Database.</ref><ref>[[Salt of this Sea]] Internet Movie Database.</ref>

==Filmography==
===Actor===
===Actor===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
* "The Lark Farm" by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (Italy) 2007
! Year
* "[[Private (film)|Private]]" by [[Saverio Costanzo]] (Italy) 2004
! Title
* "[[The Olive Harvest]]" by Hannah Elias (Palestine) 2001
! Role
* "Desperado Square" by Benny Toraty (Italy/Israel) 1997
! Director(s)
* "[[Haifa (film)|Haifa]]" by [[Rashid Masharawi]] (Palestine/Netherlands) 1996
! Country
* "Sous les pieds des femmes" by Rachid Krim (France) 1995
! Notes
* "The Milky Way" by [[Ali Nassar]] (Israel) 1994
|-
* "The Tale of the Three Jewels" by [[Michel Khleifi]] (Palestine/Belgium) 1994
| align="center"| 1983
* "Beyond the Walls II" by [[Uri Barabash]] (Israel) 1994
| ''[[Hanna K.]]''
* "[[Cup Final (film)]]" by Eran Riklis (Israel) 1991
| Selim Bakri
* "Foreign Nights" by [[Izidore Musallam|Izidore K. Musallam]] (Canada) 1989
| [[Costa Gavras|Constantin Costa-Gavras]]
* "Rami og Julie" by Erik Clausen (Denmark) 1988
| Israel, France
* "Esther" by [[Amos Gitai]] (Israel/UK) 1986
|
* "[[Beyond the Walls]]" by Uri Barabash co-wrote with [[Eran Preis]], (Israel) [[1984]], the film was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]].
|-
* "[[Hanna K.]]" by [[Costa Gavras|Constantin Costa-Gavras]] (Israel/France) 1983
| align="center"| 1984
| ''[[Beyond the Walls (1984 film)|Beyond the Walls]]''
| Issan
| Uri Barabash, [[Eran Preis]]
| Israel
|
|-
| align="center"| 1986
| ''Esther''
| Mordecai
| [[Amos Gitai]]
| Israel, UK
|
|-
| align="center"| 1987
| ''[[Death Before Dishonor (film)|Death Before Dishonor]]''
| Gavril
| [[Terry Leonard]]
| U.S.
|
|-
| align="center"| 1988
| ''Rami og Julie''
| Rami's cousin
| [[Erik Clausen]]
| Denmark
|
|-
| align="center"| 1989
| ''Ha Miklat''
|
| [[Rashid Masharawi]]
| Israel
| Short film
|-
| align="center"| 1989
| ''Foreign Nights''
| Morod
| [[Izidore Musallam|Izidore K. Musallam]]
| Canada
|
|-
| align="center"| 1991
| ''[[Cup Final (film)|Cup Final]]''
| Ziad
| [[Eran Riklis]]
| Israel
|
|-
| align="center"| 1993
| ''The Mummy Lives''
| Alexatos
| [[Gerry O'Hara]]
| U.S.
|
|-
| align="center"| 1994
| ''Beyond the Walls II''
| Issan
| [[Uri Barabash]]
| Israel
|
|-
| align="center"| 1994
| ''The Tale of the Three Jewels''
| Aida's father
| [[Michel Khleifi]]
| Palestine, Belgium
|
|-
| align="center"| 1994
| ''The Milky Way''
| Mahmud
| [[Ali Nassar]]
| Israel
|
|-
| align="center"| 1995
| ''Sous les pieds des femmes''
| Amin 1996
| Rachid Krim
| France
|
|-
| align="center"| 1996
| ''[[Haifa (film)|Haifa]]''
| Haifa
| [[Rashid Masharawi]]
| Palestine, Netherlands
|
|-
| align="center"| 1997
| ''Desperado Square''
| Avram Mandabon
| Benny Toraty
| Israel
|
|-
| align="center"| 2001
| ''[[The Body (2001 film)|The Body]]''
| Abu Yusef
| Jonas McCord
| U.S.
|
|-
| align="center"| 2001
| ''[[The Olive Harvest]]''
| Raeda's father
| Hannah Elias
| Palestine
|
|-
| align="center"| 2004
| ''[[Private (film)|Private]]''
| Mohammad B.
| [[Saverio Costanzo]]
| Italy
|
|-
| align="center"| 2005
| ''Yasmine's song''
| Abu Odeh
| [[Najwa Najjar]]
| Palestine
| Short film
|-
| align="center"| 2007
| ''[[La Masseria Delle Allodole]]''
| Nazim
| [[Paolo and Vittorio Taviani]]
| Italy
|
|-
| align="center"| 2010
| ''[[Marriage and Other Disasters]]''
| Bauer
| Nina Di Majo
| Italy
|
|-
| align="center"| 2011
| ''The Salt Fisherman''
|
| [[Ziad Bakri]]
| Palestine
| Short film
|-
| align="center"| 2013
| ''Stay Human - The Reading Movie''
| Narrator
| Fulvio Renzi
| Italy
| Chapter XI
|-
| align="center"| 2014
| ''[[Tyrant (TV series)|Tyrant]]''
| Sheik Rashid
| [[Gideon Raff]]
| U.S.
| TV series
|-
| align="center"| 2016
| ''[[Of Kings and Prophets]]''
| Samuel
| Adam Cooper, Bill Collage
| U.S.
| TV series
|-
| align="center"| 2016
| ''[[The Night Of]]''
| Tariq
| [[James Marsh (director)|James Marsh]]
| U.S.
| Miniseries
|-
| align="center"| 2017
| ''[[The Bureau (TV series)|The Bureau]]''
| Shahannah
| [[Éric Rochant]]
| France
| 5 episodes, TV series
|-
| align="center"| 2017
| ''[[Wajib (film)|Wajib]]''
| Abu Shadi
| [[Annemarie Jacir]]
| Palestine
|
|-
| align="center"| 2017
| ''[[American Assassin]]''
| Ashani
| [[Michael Cuesta]]
| U.S.
|
|-
| align="center"| 2020
| ''[[Homeland (TV series)|Homeland]]''
| Abdu Qadir G’ulom
|
| U.S.
| 8 episodes, T.V. Series
|-
|2021
|''[[The Stranger (2021 film)|The Stranger]]''
|
|
|}


===Director===
===Director===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
* ''1948'' (Palestine/Israel) 1999
! Year
* ''[[Jenin, Jenin]]'' (Palestine) 2002
! Title
* ''[[Since You Left]]'' (Israel) 2004
! Country
* ''[[Zahra]]'' (Palestine) 2009
! Notes
|-
| align="center"| 1999
| ''1948''
| Palestine, Israel
| Documentary film
|-
| align="center"| 2002
| ''[[Jenin, Jenin]]''
| Palestine
| Documentary film
|-
| align="center"| 2004
| ''[[Since You Left]]''
| Israel
| Documentary film
|-
| align="center"| 2009
| ''Zahra''
| Palestine
| Documentary film
|-
|}


==Awards==
==Awards and recognition==
*Award for the Best Actor for the role in "Private" in [[Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema]] 2005<ref name="IMBd">[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0049235/awards IMBd]</ref>
* Award for the Best Actor for the role in ''Private'' in [[Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema]] 2005<ref name="IMDb">[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0049235/awards IMDb]</ref>
* Bronze Leopard for the Best Actor for the role in "Private" by Saverio Costanzo, [[Locarno International Film Festival]] 2004<ref name="IMBd"/>
* [[Best Actor Award (Locarno International Film Festival)|Best Actor Award]] for ''Private'' by Saverio Costanzo, [[Locarno International Film Festival]] 2004<ref name="IMDb"/>
* Palestine Prize for Cinema 1999 Ramallah
* Palestine Prize for Cinema 1999 Ramallah
* Award for the Best Actor for the role in "Haifa" by Rashid Masharawi, Valencia Festival 1997
* Award for the Best Actor for the role in ''Haifa'' by Rashid Masharawi, Valencia Festival. 1997
* Award for the Best Actor for the role in "Beyond the Walls II" by Uri Barabash, Valencia Festival 1994
* Award for the Best Actor for the role in ''Beyond the Walls II'' by Uri Barabash, Valencia Festival. 1994
* Award for the Best Actor for the role in "Beyond the Walls" by Uri Barabash, Israel 1984
* Award for the Best Actor for the role in ''Beyond the Walls'' by Uri Barabash, Israel. 1984
* Award for the best actor for the role in ''Season of Migration to the North'', by [[Tayeb Salih]], adapted and directed by [[Ouriel Zohar]], in the [[Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre]], Israel 1993.
* Award for the best actor for the role in ''Season of Migration to the North'', by [[Tayeb Salih]], adapted and directed by [[Ouriel Zohar]], in the [[Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre]], Israel, 1993.


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==External links==
*{{IMDB name|0049235}}
* {{IMDb name|0049235}}
* [http://mohammadbakri.com/biography.php?lang=en Biography on his personal website]{{Dead link|date=September 2010}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata

|NAME=Bakri, Mohammad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakri, Mohammad}}
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Bakri, Mohammed; Bakri, Muhammed
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Palestinian actor, producer, director
|DATE OF BIRTH=1953
|PLACE OF BIRTH=Bi'ina
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Arab citizens of Israel]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Israeli actors]]
[[Category:Arab-Israeli film directors]]
[[Category:Israeli film directors]]
[[Category:Israeli film directors]]
[[Category:Israeli film producers]]
[[Category:Israeli film producers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Israeli male film actors]]
[[Category:Israeli male stage actors]]

[[Category:Tel Aviv University alumni]]
[[ar:محمد بكري]]
[[fr:Mohammed Bakri]]
[[he:מוחמד בכרי]]

Latest revision as of 19:36, 24 August 2023

Mohammad Bakri
Mohammad Bakri, 2010
Born
Mohammad Bakri

(1953-11-27) 27 November 1953 (age 70)
Bi'ina, Israel
Alma materTel Aviv University
Years active1983–present

Mohammad Bakri (born 1953; Arabic: محمد بكري, Hebrew: מוחמד בכרי) is a Palestinian actor and film director.[1]

Personal life

Bakri was born in the village of Bi'ina in Israel. He went to elementary school in his hometown and received his secondary education in the nearby city of Akko. He studied acting and Arabic literature at Tel Aviv University in 1973 and graduated three years later.[1]

Bakri is married to Leila[2] and together they have six children. His sons Adam, Ziad and Saleh Bakri are also actors.

Acting and film career

Bakri began his professional acting career in with Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv, Haifa theater and al-Kasaba theater in Ramallah. His one-man plays, The Pessoptimist (1986), The Anchor (1991), Season of Migration to the North (1993) and Abu Marmar (1999), were performed in Hebrew and Arabic.

After a few years of acting in Palestinian and Israeli film, Bakri began to act in international films in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada and Italy. Bakri also directed two documentary films, including the controversial Jenin, Jenin.

Controversy

After Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002, Bakri interviewed residents of the Jenin refugee camp and produced a film based on their testimony, Jenin, Jenin. Some of the survivors described a massacre of hundreds of people.[3] After three showings the film was banned by the Israeli Film Board, which claimed it was not a documentary as it showed only one side of the story. Nevertheless, Bakri showed the film at the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem cinematheques and Arab theaters such as Al-Midan in Haifa.[4]

Bakri petitioned the High Court of Justice for prohibiting the screening of the film on the grounds that it distorted the truth. After a long fight, the court rejected the censor's decision. In 2004, the Israeli High Court finally upheld its earlier overturn of the ban, but joined the Film Board in labeling the film a "propagandistic lie", based on Israeli sources that acknowledged only 52 Palestinian deaths, 38 of whom Israeli sources argued were armed fighters.[3] In response to the court's criticism, Bakri stated that he had "seen hundreds of films that deny and ignore what happened to Palestinians, yet [people haven't] complained or tried to ban any film."[5]

In 2007, five soldiers who fought in the Jenin refugee camp during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 sued the cinematheques in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for screening the film in the midst of the ban, and sued Bakri for 2.5 million NIS for producing the film.[3] In July 2008, Bakri was acquitted of the charges.[6]

Jenin-Jenin earned two awards: the best film award at the Carthage International Film Festival, 2002, and the International Prize for Mediterranean Documentary Filmmaking and Reporting.

Israeli right-wing group Im Tirtzu organized a campaign against Bakri. Im Tirtzu opposed a production of Federico García Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba in which Bakri played the role of Bernarda. The play was produced in 2012 at Tel Aviv's Tzavta Theater. Israel's Academy of the Performing Arts was behind the production. While refusing Im Tirtzu's request to intervene, Culture Minister Limor Livnat criticized the judgment of the theater's administration.[7]

Filmography

Actor

Year Title Role Director(s) Country Notes
1983 Hanna K. Selim Bakri Constantin Costa-Gavras Israel, France
1984 Beyond the Walls Issan Uri Barabash, Eran Preis Israel
1986 Esther Mordecai Amos Gitai Israel, UK
1987 Death Before Dishonor Gavril Terry Leonard U.S.
1988 Rami og Julie Rami's cousin Erik Clausen Denmark
1989 Ha Miklat Rashid Masharawi Israel Short film
1989 Foreign Nights Morod Izidore K. Musallam Canada
1991 Cup Final Ziad Eran Riklis Israel
1993 The Mummy Lives Alexatos Gerry O'Hara U.S.
1994 Beyond the Walls II Issan Uri Barabash Israel
1994 The Tale of the Three Jewels Aida's father Michel Khleifi Palestine, Belgium
1994 The Milky Way Mahmud Ali Nassar Israel
1995 Sous les pieds des femmes Amin 1996 Rachid Krim France
1996 Haifa Haifa Rashid Masharawi Palestine, Netherlands
1997 Desperado Square Avram Mandabon Benny Toraty Israel
2001 The Body Abu Yusef Jonas McCord U.S.
2001 The Olive Harvest Raeda's father Hannah Elias Palestine
2004 Private Mohammad B. Saverio Costanzo Italy
2005 Yasmine's song Abu Odeh Najwa Najjar Palestine Short film
2007 La Masseria Delle Allodole Nazim Paolo and Vittorio Taviani Italy
2010 Marriage and Other Disasters Bauer Nina Di Majo Italy
2011 The Salt Fisherman Ziad Bakri Palestine Short film
2013 Stay Human - The Reading Movie Narrator Fulvio Renzi Italy Chapter XI
2014 Tyrant Sheik Rashid Gideon Raff U.S. TV series
2016 Of Kings and Prophets Samuel Adam Cooper, Bill Collage U.S. TV series
2016 The Night Of Tariq James Marsh U.S. Miniseries
2017 The Bureau Shahannah Éric Rochant France 5 episodes, TV series
2017 Wajib Abu Shadi Annemarie Jacir Palestine
2017 American Assassin Ashani Michael Cuesta U.S.
2020 Homeland Abdu Qadir G’ulom U.S. 8 episodes, T.V. Series
2021 The Stranger

Director

Year Title Country Notes
1999 1948 Palestine, Israel Documentary film
2002 Jenin, Jenin Palestine Documentary film
2004 Since You Left Israel Documentary film
2009 Zahra Palestine Documentary film

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ^ a b Biography Mohammad Bakri Official Website.
  2. ^ "The Face | Mohammad Bakri", Haaretz Magazine.
  3. ^ a b c Izenberg, Dan (17 September 2007). "'Jenin, Jenin', now in court". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Acclaimed Palestinian Actor Mohammad Bakri Faces Trial in Israel for Documentary 'Jenin, Jenin'", Democracy Now!, 22 June 2007.
  5. ^ Silencing Dissent in Israel Archived 3 July 2013 at archive.today 26 January 2012, Alternative News.
  6. ^ Anderman, Nirit (16 February 2011). "I lie to save people". Haaretz. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  7. ^ Handelzalts, Michael (31 January 2012). "Behind the curtain of a right-wing campaign against an Israeli-Arab actor". Haaretz. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  8. ^ a b IMDb

External links

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