Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Najwa Najjar was born in the American capital, Washington, on July 31, 1973, to a Jordanian father and a Palestinian mother. She received her higher education in America in the field of cinema. She is a Palestinian director and author. She was recently elected to the Academy of Arts and Sciences (Book Section) 2020. Born to a Jordanian father and a Palestinian mother, she began her career producing commercials and has worked on both documentaries and feature films since 1999. Her first feature film, Pomegranate and Myrrh, won 10 international awards, and was shown in multiple roles. Cinema and in more than 80 international festivals around the world This film tells the story of a young Palestinian dancer who defends her family's land after her husband is sent to an Israeli prison, according to Najjar. When the film was shown for the first time in Ramallah, there was a public outcry by the Hamas government in Gaza about the filming Considered unpatriotic by the government as it features and portrays the untrustworthy wife of a political prisoner, the film won the Best Arab Film Award at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.
Her second film, Eyes of a Thief, is also an award-winning thriller based on a true story. This entire film was shot in Palestinian territory with multi-award winning Egyptian actor and producer Khaled Abol Naga in the title role and Algerian singer Souad Massi as the actress. It was “Eyes of the Thief” is the official Palestinian submission to the 87th Academy Awards 2014 (Oscars). This Palestinian/Algerian/French/Icelandic co-production was supported by the Sundance Writing Lab, the Sundance duke award, the Dubai film collection, and the Jordan Film Fund, and was a participant in the New Cinema Network at the Rome International Film Festival.
Her third feature film, Road Trip: Between Heaven and Earth, was completed in November 2019, and was screened in the Cairo International Film Festival competition, winning the Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay. The film was also postponed in many prestigious international film festivals due to the Corona pandemic in 2020.
Najwa Najjar is a speaker in many panel discussions on cinema and a participant in many international film festivals. She has evaluated books and published articles on Palestinian cinema. She was a consultant and reader in Al-Rawi Sundance Lab for Arab writers. She also organized study days for Palestinian filmmakers. She gave a talk at the Galway International Film Festival. Najjar lives in the Palestinian territories
Foundation
She was born in the American capital, Washington, on July 31, 1973, to a Jordanian father and a Palestinian mother. She received her higher education in America in the field of cinema.
her career
Her professional life began with commercial advertisements, and then she moved to documentaries and short films, especially after moving to Jerusalem. She has worked in documentaries since 1999.
its business
Among her most prominent works:
Naim and Wadih (1999)
The essence of solace (2000)
A Kid Called Muhammad (2001)
Blue Gold (2004)
They Come From the East (2004)
Yasmin sings (2006)
Pomegranate and Myrrh (2009)
Thieves' Eyes (2014)
Between Heaven and Earth (2019)
2019 Between Heaven and Earth, a love story about divorce, won the Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay.
2014's "Eyes of the Thieves" is based on a true story, recounting the return of a Palestinian sniper to his hometown after 10 years to find the daughter he left behind. Nominated as Best Film at the 2015 Oscars and Golden Globes 2015, it won the Best Director Award at the 2014 Kolkata International Film Festival. It also won the Best Actor Award at the 2014 Cairo International Film Festival and was named the Best Narrative Film in Boston.
2009 “Pomegranate and Myrrh” is an independent feature film (95 minutes) that tells the story of a Palestinian woman searching for freedom after her husband's imprisonment. It has been shown in more than 70 international festivals.
Naim and Wadih A short documentary film about the social history of Jaffa, Palestine. It revolves around the narrated history of a family from Jaffa and includes an archive of photographs of the Azar family (the Yafaweh family). Winner of many awards.
The film, Jawhar Al-Silwan, where Najwa wrote, directed and produced the film, is 45 minutes long and won the BETA SO WINNER award: Art Desert Rain Film Festival in Italy in 2001.
“A Child Named Muhammad” is a ten-minute documentary that depicts the events of the day of Muhammad, a 12-year-old boy who works in a grocery store for Palestinians across the Qalandiya checkpoint, which is controlled by Israeli soldiers.
Blue Gold, directed in 2004, is a documentary film. It is 24 minutes long and deals with the situation and status of water in the country, along with renewal of the Hebron area
“Yasmine Sings” is a 20-minute short film written and directed by Najwa that revolves around two lovers trying to overcome the barriers between them.
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Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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