Nizar Wattad is an American screenwriter, producer and hip-hop artist. Wattad graduated from the

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

in 2002 and worked as a journalist. Wattad began his ongoing collaboration with

Hany Abu-Assad 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 ...

, the Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning film director of ''Paradise Now''. He was recruited by Walt Disney Pictures to write the screenplay for the company's first Arabic language film, ''

The United ''The United'' (Arabic: المتحدين) is an unreleased film produced by Touchstone Pictures. It was conceived as Disney's first ever Arabic-language film, intended primarily for Middle Eastern audiences. Produced by Rachel Gandin, ''The Un ...

'', which was released by Touchstone in 2012.

Music

Wattad and his younger brother Bader began freestyle rapping while growing up in

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. John ...

. They formed The Philistines, and in 2003 released an album, ''Self Defined'', with lyrics reflecting a wide range of contemporary issues, notably the situation of the

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

. Wattad continued to perform alongside his long-time friend and colleague Omar Chakaki (Offendum), with whom he co-produced the ''NOMADS vs Philistines'' mixtape in 2006. They have also collaborated with HBO Def Poet Mark Gonzales on the spoken-word performance-lecture ''Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets''.

References

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Sundance/RAWI Lab Announcement

Elon University Article

WireTap

The Electronic Intifada

External links

Official website
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Institute for Middle East Understanding profile

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Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wattad, Nizar Living people American people of Palestinian descent Year of birth missing (living people)