Hany Abu-Assad ( ar, هاني أبو أسعد; born 11 October 1961) is a Palestinian-Dutch film director. He has received two Academy Award nominations: in 2006 for his film '' Paradise Now'', and again in 2013 for his film '' Omar''.

Early life

Abu-Assad was born to a Palestinian Muslim family, in the city of

Nazareth, Israel Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

, in 1961. He immigrated to the Netherlands in 1981, where he studied aerodynamics in Haarlem and worked as an airplane engineer for several years. Abu-Assad was inspired after watching a film by

Michel Khleifi Michel Khleifi ( ar, ميشيل خليفي}, born in 1950 in Nazareth, is a Palestinian of Israeli citizenship film writer, director and producer, presently based in Belgium. Khleifi emigrated to Belgium in 1970, where he studied television and the ...

to pursue a career in cinema. Abu-Assad initially started as a TV producer working on commissions for Channel 4 and the BBC. He founded Ayloul Film Productions in 1990 with the Palestinian film-maker

Rashid Masharawi Rashid Masharawi (also: "Rashid Mashrawi") ( ar, رشيد مشهراوي) is a Palestinian film director, born in Gaza in 1962 to a family of refugees from Jaffa. He grew up in the Shati refugee camp. Rashid Masharawi lives and works in Ramallah ...

Film career

In 1992, Abu-Assad wrote and directed his first short film, ''Paper House'' which was made for NOS Dutch television and won several international awards at film festivals in Paris and Jerusalem. In 1998, he directed his first film, ''Het 14de kippetje'' (''The Fourteenth Chick''), from a script by writer Arnon Grunberg. Later films include the documentary ''Nazareth 2000'' (2000) and the feature film ''Rana's Wedding'' (2002). In 2002, ''Ford Transit'' was nominated for the

Ophir Award The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, name ...

in the documentary category. In 2006, his film ''Paradise Now'' won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and received an Oscar-nomination in the same category. In 2005 ''Paradise Now'' won the Golden Calf for Best Feature Film at the Netherlands Film Festival. His 2013 film ''Omar'' was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films ...

section at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and ...

where it won the Jury Prize. In 2014, ''Omar'' was the Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, and was nominated for the award. The film also won the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. In 2014, Abu-Assad was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2018, Abu-Assad joined the film jury for ShortCutz Amsterdam, an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending up ...

promoting short films in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Filmography

* ''Paper House'' (1992, short film) - Director * ''Curfew'' (1993) - Producer * ''The 13th'' (1997, short film) - Director * '' The Fourteenth Chick'' (1998) - Director * ''

Rana's Wedding ''Rana's Wedding'', also known as ''Jerusalem, Another Day'' (Arabic, القدس في يوم آخر ), is a Palestinian film released in 2002, produced in partnership with the Netherlands and funded by the Palestinian Film Foundation. The film wa ...

'' (2002) - Director * '' Paradise Now'' (2005) - Director * '' The Courier'' (2012) - Director * '' Omar'' (2013) * '' The Idol'' (2015) * '' The Mountain Between Us'' (2017) * ''

Huda's Salon ''Huda's Salon'' is a 2021 Palestinian internationally co-produced thriller film written, directed, and produced by Hany Abu-Assad. It stars Ali Suliman, Samer Bisharat, Maisa Abd Elhadi and Manal Awad. It had its world premiere at the 2021 Tor ...

'' (2021)

Documentaries

* ''

Dar 0 Dour Dar or DAR may refer to: Settlements * Dar es Salaam, the largest city of Tanzania and East Africa * Dar, Azerbaijan, a village * Dar, Iran, a village People * Dar (tribe), a Kashmiri tribe in India and Pakistan * Aleem Dar, Pakistani cricketer ...

'' (1990) - Producer * ''

Long Days in Gaza Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...

'' (1991) - Producer * '' De Arabieren van 2001'' (1999) - Director * ''

Het Spijkerkwartier Het or HET may refer to: Science and technology * Hall-effect thruster, a type of ion thruster used for spacecraft propulsion * Heavy Equipment Transporter, a vehicle in the US Army's Heavy Equipment Transport System * Hobby–Eberly Telescope, ...

'' (2000) - Director * '' Nazareth 2000'' (2000) - Director * ''

Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford Tourneo i ...

'' (2002) - Director

References

External links

*

''The Guardian''
"I risked my life to make this movie"
''The Telegraph''

''Christianity Today'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu-Assad, Hany 1961 births Living people Dutch film directors Dutch people of Palestinian descent European Film Award for Best Screenwriter winners Israeli film directors Palestinian film directors People from Nazareth