Acclaimed Palestinian Actor and Filmmaker, Mohammed Bakri (1954 – 2025), dies at the age of 72

Mohammed Bakri died last week at the age of 72.  He was a well-regarded actor of film and theater and a documentary film director.  In his memory, I would like to share a few words about him.

Bakri studied at Tel Aviv University during the early 1970s, at which time he was the only Arab in the theater department.  He began acting in the Haifa Theater ensemble, and since that time, he acted in dozens of theater productions, films, and a one-man play, which brought him much recognition.  The play, adapted for the stage by Bakri himself, was called The Opsimist (a combination of “the optimist” and “the pessimist”), based on the literary work by Israeli Arab author, Emile Habibi. I saw Bakri in this play with my husband a long time ago, and we both loved it.

Bakri’s first major role on the screen was as the Palestinian political prisoner in Beyond the Walls (directed by Uri Barbash, 1984), one of the greatest Israeli films of all time.  According to legend, Bakri did not agree with the ending of the film.  In the film’s story, the warden is trying to break the strike which is being staged by both the Jewish and the Palestinian prisoners.  In an attempt to bribe Bakri’s character, Issam, he brings his wife and young son, whom Issam has never seen, to the prison.  The cell door is opened, and Issam peeps out to see his wife and son waiting for him at the end of the corridor.  His first reaction is to return to the cell.  Encouraged, however, by the demanding clapping of his fellow prisoners and strongly tempted, he tearfully makes his way down the corridor.  On the set, Bakri insisted the Palestinian prisoner would never break the solidarity of the strike.  So, the ending was rewritten.  And Issam approaches his wife and tells her to go home.  Together with the leader of the Jewish prisoners (played by Arnon Zadok), he resists the bribe and demands concessions from the warden.

Bakri appeared as the leader of a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) unit in the award-winning Cup Final (Eran Riklis, 1991).  He also appeared in many international films, including Hanna K. (Costa Gavras, 1983), Haifa (by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Mashrawi, 1996), All That’s Left of You (Cherien Dabis, 2025).

He is also remembered for his documentary films: Jenin, Jenin, 1948, and Zahra.

Jenin, Jenin (2002) was highly criticized and was eventually banned in Israel, as it covered a supposed massacre that Israeli troops purportedly carried out against the people of the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank during the Second Intifada (the uprising against Israel 2000-2005). The massacre was later proven untrue, but Bakri stood behind his film, and as a result he lost a great deal of status among members of the Israeli public. 

Bakri believed that only by learning about the most painful chapters in each other’s histories could we understand the pain and suffering of the other.  Thus, he supported Palestinians learning about the Holocaust and he made an important film, called 1948, about the Nakba, the tragedy that befell the Palestinian people in 1948 with the establishment of the State of Israel, when hundreds of thousands became refugees. Both of his documentaries, 1948 (1998) and Zahra (2009), show a creative and beautiful cinematic aesthetic.  Zahra is about his Aunt Zahra who lived in the village in the Galilee where he was born, Al-Bina. She lived through the upheaval of 1948 and mothered ten children.

A documentary film, Not a Beginning, nor an End (Lena Chaplin), about Bakri and his family, portrays the issues of dual identity of a Palestinian living in the state of Israel, issues that are present in Bakri’s life.

Bakri was one of Israel’s greatest film personalities. His acting, directing, strong presence and strength of character will be sorely missed.

 

Living within the Haredi community

Ambiguity (בהסתורה} is a new TV series created by Yossi Madmoni about people living within the Haredi community who are conflicted about their faith and their lifestyle. I had a chance to see the first two episodes which were premiered at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival, which took place at the Jerusalem Cinematheque last week.

You might be surprised to learn that there is a Haredi movement, albeit small, of those who are living with a complicated inner battle about their lifestyle.  On the one hand, they are driven to live a freer life, on the other, they are deeply bound or even chained to the ultra-Orthodox community for a variety of personal reasons. This TV series delves deeply into the lives of fictional characters who are living as part of this movement.

In the first episode, Rochele is unhappy about a shidduch (arranged marriage) that is planned for her.  It is during the covid pandemic and there are apartments in the Haredi community which are setup for either men or women to be quarantined.  Rochele is invited to such an apartment where a group of about 20 haredim who call themselves “Marranos” (hidden Jews) are living, under cover of such a quarantined apartment.  She has to deal with many new things – forbidden foods, more revealing dress, attraction to a young man, an overture from a lesbian – all things which are providing great temptations and great confusion.

In the second episode, Sarah, who is older than Rochele and was her teacher in the midrasha (institute of study for religious Jewish women), has to deal with her owns issues and problems, especially issues within her marriage. 

During the discussion following the screening, someone in the audience asked if this series is based on a real phenomenon within the Haredi community.  A young woman raised her hand and said she would like to answer that question.  She proceeded to tell the audience that she herself usually wears a wig and lives in the Haredi community because she is afraid to break away for fear of losing her children. Moreover, she added that she is part of a community of about 300 persons such as herself who live within this gray area, not sure where they belong, and living a lie.

In the discussion, another person asked if all the roles are played by secular actors and if that makes for a difficult issue in the creation of the series.  I was troubled by Yossi Madmoni’s response.  He quipped that American actors can play aliens and no one would question that! This didn’t seem to me to be a fair parallel.  Do we really look at Haredim as aliens from outer space? 

Perhaps this TV series will open our eyes to the complexities of living in that community and will help us to understand that not all Haredim are the same, their clothes notwithstanding.

I strongly recommend this series – it is quite compelling, with good acting and a great script which deals with serious issues.  It will be broadcast on KAN-TV during the early months of 2026.  Watch for it!

This year’s Graduation films of the Ma’aleh Film school’s Ultra-orthodox track

In the framework of the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival, I went to see the graduating films of the Ultra-orthodox women filmmakers who have been studying at Ma’aleh.  The films were varied – documentary and fiction – and dealt with a wide range of subjects. Seven short films were screened.  All of them were compelling and provocative and succeeded in portraying important issues.

An award for outstanding student filmmaker was presented to Esti Viye.  She directed two films that were screened today:

• ·       Happily Ever After (13 minutes, drama) – Shira is a young mother who has left her kids with her parents and has organized a romantic anniversary getaway with her husband, who is a reserve soldier. She is excited to see him and is terribly disappointed as reality sets in and their time together is cut short.  Shira is finding it hard to hold it together.  This film really talked to me because there were so many miluim families in Israel who were traumatized and severely affected by the demands of the war of the last two years.
• ·       The Lifeguard (13 minutes, documentary) – Esti’s father is a lifeguard and he loves the water.  But Esti finds it difficult to enter the pool or the sea.  In trying to reconnect with her father over a past trauma, she realizes she must overcome her fear of the water.

There were two films by filmmaker Bat Sheva Haddad:

• ·       Houses of Silence (20 minutes, documentary) – The filmmaker and her daughter go on a personal journey documenting the homes in their neighborhood in Gedera which are hiding terrible secrets about babies who were kidnapped during the early years of the State.
• ·       He’s Coming (8 minutes, drama) – A story about abuse in the home. Before their father comes home, we can already feel that the mother and two daughters are afraid of him.  When he arrives, the 12-year-old takes her younger sister and runs away, while in the background we hear the father abusively yelling at their mother.

There were two films by filmmaker Sarah Libah Hanfling:

• ·       The Bride (15 minutes, drama) -– In the weeks leading up to her wedding, a woman, who has been previously married and traumatized, is grappling with her fears.
• ·       Still Here (14 minutes, drama) – A young mother is exhausted, depressed and overworked and finds herself pregnant again.  Out of despair, she contemplates suicide. A stunning performance by the actress, Tamar Diskin.

One more film was directed by Chayaleh Arnster:

• ·       Unacceptable (15 minutes, drama) -- Moishe is a yeshiva student and he loves music.  His parents are arranging a match for him but he only has eyes for Ayala.  In a world in which you can only get married by shidduch, he has to come up with a plan.

 

 

 

Some Notes on the Current Situation by Eran Kolirin

Some Notes on the Current Situation, directed by Eran Kolirin (The Band’s Visit), comprised of a series of six surreal episodes, is a film about our existential condition. 

I had the opportunity to see this film at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, which is taking place during this week of Chanukah. Following the screening, Eran Kolirin talked about the fact that the film is purposefully abstract, similarly, he said, nothing is understood in today’s world.  He explained that he was invited to work with a group of student actors at the Kibbutz Seminar and was given a minimal budget.  This series of episodes are the edited culmination of the exercises that this class of talented actors performed, under his direction. (He also wrote the script.)

The first episode is about how we are forced to bang our heads against the wall, and how everything is upside down and unclear. It concludes with people shouting “Now, now”, which is a hard-hitting reminder of all those Saturday night demonstrations when we shouted for the return of the hostages “now”!  The second episode, undoubtedly the most linear, shows a group of soldiers in military formation, doing theater exercises in preparation for the production of  a film for international streaming.  What is their film about, shouts the young commander.  The occupation, social disparity, apartheid, the inequity of the JNF-controlled lands – but do not despair, we have nice people here.  When asked about this episode, Kolirin explained that it was the most clear-cut but that was also a drawback because he prefers things to be more abstract and therefore, perhaps, more complex and unclear.

In another episode, a man is driving a truck filled with snow, getting nowhere, just driving ahead. His wife asks him, are you in a crisis – after all, who isn’t? They are on their way to deliver the snow to a film production that deals with who or what are human beings.

Even though Kolirin felt that he was directing a very abstract film which provided him with a tremendous sense of artistic freedom, his metaphors were hard-hitting and sometimes devastating.  The film is very cynical and satirical but at the same time is very critical of Israeli society, which is going nowhere fast, if not backwards. The government is pursuing occupation and apartheid, and has social policies which lead to greater inequity. Not only that, so much of life here has become absurd, and our government and Knesset have become theater of the absurd. Our leaders spout nonsense and spin all the time, and they often make no sense.

This is a serious film made by a very thoughtful and experienced Israeli filmmaker. While it is artistic and rather vague, it nevertheless raises profound existential questions: who are we as human beings and what kind of society have we become?

At this event, Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir) interviewed Eran Kolirin on the stage, and shared some insights from his own projects. He spoke about the fact that cinema as an art form will have a very difficult time competing with the 200,000 clips from cellphones – both Hamas and Israeli – that were shot and distributed via social media on October 7^th, making it very difficult to produce an Israeli feature film about the events of October 7^th. He wondered aloud, where will Israeli cinema go from here?

 

Red Alert - a new TV series about the events of October 7th

Red Alert, directed by Lior Hefetz, is a heart-rending television drama series, produced by Keshet channel 12 in Israel and currently streaming on Paramount+.

Based on actual events and personal stories, this series tells the painful story of the Hamas invasion of southern Israel, the massacre of civilians, and taking of hostages on October 7, 2023. The story unfolds like a thriller – compelling, distressing and so-very realistic with in-depth characterizations. For some, the story is still too raw and watching this series might be too difficult.  For others, it will provide just what is needed to process the terrible events of that day.

There are four parallel stories.  There is a family living in Nir Oz – parents and three children.  They can’t lock the door to their safe room and they are shivering with fear as they hear the nearby shouting and shooting and read the messages on their phones from their neighbors. There is the couple who are both police officers.  The wife, Nofar, is working at the Nova festival.  Her husband, Kobi, is trying desperately to save her. Itamar is a combat soldier, who runs out of his home in Ofakim to help defend his neighborhood against the terrorists.  Meanwhile, his middle-aged mother, Tali, begins to bravely ferry the wounded to an evacuation point.  Ayub, a Muslim from Gaza, living in Israel, is driving in his car with his wife and infant son.  When the terrorists shoot at his car and his pregnant wife is killed, he runs with his baby and hides in a roadside shelter.

These are stories of heroism and sacrifice.  A father willing to sacrifice to protect his family.  A husband willing to run into battle to rescue his wife.  A middle-aged woman taking risks trying to evacuate the wounded. An Arab man running to warn the IDF troops of terrorists waiting in ambush.

Almost 1200 people were slaughtered that day.  And close to 250 were taken hostage.  These are real stories which will help us to enshrine the memory of that day.  They will bring tears to your eyes.

 

Thank you to My Readers

 I began writing this blog in June of 2008.  

Now, 17 years later, my readers are still loyal and attentive!  

We have passed 700,000 hits. Is that a lot in 17 years?  Perhaps not in this age of tik tok and instagram.  

But, I feel honored that you have continued to read what I write!  

Thank you for that support!

The Sea, directed by Shai Carmeli Pollak, wins the Ophir Award

The Sea, directed by Shai Carmeli Pollak and produced by Baher Agbaria, previously reviewed on this blog, was the big winner of the Ophir Award last week, which means the film will represent Israel at the Academy Awards competition.  In addition, the star of the film, 13-year-old Muhammad Gazawi, won the Ophir Award for best actor.

The choice of the film, which is mostly in Arabic, and is about a 12-year-old boy dreaming about being able to visit the Mediterranean Sea, angered the powers-that-be in Israel.  Claiming that the film defames Israel and the IDF, the Ministry of Culture and Sports has declared the suspension of funding for the Ophir film awards in the future.

The Sea is a road movie, and as the boy travels from his village near Ramallah towards the sea, it clearly shows the dissonance between the reality of life on the occupied West Bank and normal life in Tel Aviv.  Perhaps just opening the eyes of Israeli viewers to this contrast would be an enormous achievement. As reported in Ha’aretz today, the filmmaker stated, “I don’t expect the film to change minds, but maybe it can open a window, a crack, a glimpse into another perspective.”