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Celebrated director of ‘Jenin, Jenin’ documentary leaves behind legacy of creative resistance.
Printed On 25 Dec 2025
Acclaimed Palestinian actor and filmmaker Mohammad Bakri has died in northern Israel, ending a five-decade profession that established him as some of the influential voices in Palestinian cinema.
Bakri died on Wednesday at Galilee Medical Centre in Nahariya after affected by coronary heart and lung issues, hospital officers mentioned.
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His passing removes a towering determine whose work immediately challenged Israeli narratives and whose decades-long authorized battles over censorship grew to become a defining chapter in Palestinian cultural resistance.
The 72-year-old was finest identified for his 2002 documentary, Jenin, Jenin, which captured testimonies from Palestinian residents following a devastating Israeli navy operation within the refugee camp that killed 52 Palestinians.
The movie ignited years of controversy in Israel however elevated Bakri’s standing as a artistic and would overshadow the rest of his life.
Israeli authorities banned the documentary from screening in 2021, with the Supreme Court docket upholding the prohibition in 2022, deeming it defamatory.
“I intend to attraction the decision as a result of it’s unfair, it’s neutering my fact,” Bakri advised the Walla Information web site on the time.
5 troopers sued Bakri, and courts ultimately fined him tons of of 1000’s of shekels whereas ordering all copies seized and on-line hyperlinks eliminated.
In an interview with the British Movie Institute earlier this yr, Bakri mentioned, “I don’t see Israel as my enemy … however they take into account me their enemy. They see me as a traitor … for making a film.”
Born in 1953 within the Galilee village of Bi’ina, Bakri was a Palestinian citizen of Israel who studied Arabic literature and theatre at Tel Aviv College. He made his placing movie debut at age 30 in Costa-Gavras’s Hanna Okay, enjoying a Palestinian refugee making an attempt to reclaim his household’s house.
His position as a Palestinian prisoner within the 1984 Israeli movie Past the Partitions earned worldwide acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for the manufacturing.
However it was Bakri’s dedication to telling Palestinian tales that outlined his profession. He appeared in additional than 40 movies and directed a number of documentaries analyzing the experiences of Palestinians dwelling beneath occupation and inside Israel.
His solo theatrical efficiency of The Pessoptimist, based mostly on Emile Habibi’s novel about Palestinian identification, was carried out greater than 1,500 instances worldwide and cemented his standing as a cultural icon.
Bakri is survived by his spouse Leila and 6 kids, together with actors Saleh, Ziad and Adam, who’ve adopted him into cinema. His funeral was held the identical day in Bi’ina.
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