Zahraa Ghandour is an

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i actress and film director. Ghandour was born and raised in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

to a Lebanese father and an Iraqi mother. She left Iraq in 2004 to live in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, then to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. A few years later she returned to Iraq. Living in these three countries allowed her to master several accents: Iraqi, Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian. She is also fluent in English.

Early career

Ghandour started her work in media at the age of 17. By the time she was 22, she had her own TV show (‘52 minutes’), a weekly documentary show focusing on social issues in Iraq. She started as a writer and presenter and began also directing the show with the second season. Ghandour has held a variety of media jobs in online media, radio and television, where she presents the long-running technology show “Dot.IQ” on Sumaria TV.

Acting

Alongside her work as a documentary

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

, Ghandour started an acting career that soon made her one of the most prominent figures of Iraq’s fledgling but dynamic film industry. Her work includes roles both in Arabic and English. A chance encounter with Mohammed Al-Daradji, a well-established Iraq-based filmmaker, led to her getting the

leading role A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typic ...

in the acclaimed film “

The Journey The Journey may refer to: Film and television * ''The Journey'' (1942 film), or ''El viaje'', an Argentine film * ''The Journey'' (1959 film), an American drama starring Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, and Jason Robards about the Hungarian Revoluti ...

”, which premiered at

TIFF Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word processin ...

in 2017 and represented Iraq in nominations in the foreign feature category at the 2019 Academy Awards. After working on her part for three years, her performance as Sara, a female suicide bomber, drew much attention and earned her widespread critical acclaim, as well as a number of awards. The film was released in France under the title "Baghdad Station" on 20 February 2019. She was then called up by Baghdad-born Swiss filmmaker

Samir Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

for the main female role in his latest feature film, Baghdad in My Shadow, which is to be released in 2019. In parallel, she is working on a number of acting projects for television, including for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

series " Baghdad Central".

Awards

*Won the Best actress award at the Muscat International Film Festival 2018. *Nominated for best actress award by the Arab Film Center 2018. *Won the best Best Actress award at the 4th Annual Asian Film Festival (US) *She won the Best actress award at the 2018 Malmo Arab Fim Festival *She won the Best actress award at the Festival des Cinémas Arabes 2018 organised by the Paris-based Arab World Institute(IMA)

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghandour, Zahraa Iraqi film actresses Iraqi television actresses 1991 births Living people Lebanese film actresses Iraqi people of Lebanese descent Malmö Arab Film Festival winners