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Farah Nabulsi

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Farah Nabulsi
Born1978
NationalityBritish, Palestinian
Alma materFrancis Holland School, City University Business School
Occupation(s)Director, producer
Years active2016–present
Children3

Farah Nabulsi (Arabic: فرح النابلسي; born 1978) is a British-Palestinian filmmaker and human rights activist. For her short film The Present, she was nominated for an Academy Award and won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film.

Early life

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Nabulsi was born and raised in London,[1] and is the daughter of a Palestinian mother and Palestinian-Egyptian father.[2] Her father came to the UK to study for a PhD in civil engineering and her mother arrived via Kuwait when her family left Palestine following the Arab-Israeli war in 1967.[3] Nabulsi attended Francis Holland School for girls and is a graduate of Cass Business School, London.[citation needed]

In her late 30s, she switched her career after working in the city as a CFA-qualified stockbroker at a boutique investment bank, and later JP Morgan.[3] She made the decision following a trip to Palestine in 2013 for the first time as an adult to trace her family roots.[4][1]

Film career

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In 2016, she founded Native Liberty Productions, a not-for-profit media production company that aims to re-humanize the Palestinians and draw attention to the injustices they face. She is also the founder of oceansofinjustice.com, a digital resource that deconstructs the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.[5]

Nabulsi has been invited to screen her work and speak at various events, including the United Nations Headquarters in New York; where she addressed the delegates in the Trustee Chamber Council.[6][7][8]

In 2021, Nabulsi's directorial debut The Present[9] was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.[10] On 10 April, 2021 it won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film; the only short that was up for both awards.[11] Prior to this, The Present won over 30 awards at various film festivals around the world.[12]

Her feature film, The Teacher, premiered on September 9, 2023[13] at the Toronto International Film Festival[14] and tells the story of a Palestinian school teacher who struggles to reconcile his risky commitment to political resistance with his emotional support for one of his students and the chance of a new relationship with a volunteer worker.[15] The Teacher won over a dozen international awards, including the Audience Award at San Francisco International Film Festival[16] and Saleh Bakri's performance in the film earned him several Best Actor awards, including at Belgrade Film Festival[17] and also from the 8th Critics Awards for Arab Films; where The Teacher was also nominated in three other categories: Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Music.[18]

Awards and accolades

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Year Film Academy Awards BAFTA Awards
Nom. Wins Nom. Wins
2021 The Present 1 1 1

Filmography

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Films directed by Farah Nabulsi
Year Title Director Writer Producer
2016 Oceans of Injustice No Yes Yes
2017 Today They Took My Son No Yes Yes
2018 Nightmare of Gaza No Yes Yes
2020 The Present Yes Yes No
2023 The Teacher Yes Yes Yes

References

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  1. ^ a b "Palestinian filmmaker, Farah Nabulsi". Kuwait Times. June 4, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  2. ^ Ahmad, Tarek Ali (May 14, 2019). "Farah Nabulsi: Palestinian investment banker turned activist filmmaker shines light on Nakba". Arab News Network. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Clarke, Cath (April 6, 2021). "'Film-making? Bring it on!': ex-stockbroker Farah Nabulsi on her Oscar nomination". The Guardian. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  4. ^ Dex, Robert (March 19, 2021). "From finance to film: The former investment banker who has just been nominated for an Oscar". Evening Standard. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  5. ^ "Farah Nabulsi". Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  6. ^ Merali, Arzu (December 15, 2017). "Why was Gary Lineker's Palestine tweet even controversial?". Middle East Eye. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "Today They Took My Son". ICN - independent catholic news. October 17, 2016.
  8. ^ Saka, Hatice (October 21, 2018). "The only child I've ever known". Yeni Şafak (in Turkmen).
  9. ^ Parry, William (March 9, 2021). "Farah Nabulsi: Her past in The Present and the future". Al Jazeera. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  10. ^ Oscar-nominated Palestinian film 'The Present' debuts on Netflix and
  11. ^ Clarke, Cath (April 2, 2021). "The "Phenomenal Journey" of Oscar- and BAFTA-Nominated Short 'The Present'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  12. ^ "The Present (Short 2020) - Awards - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  13. ^ Nabulsi, Farah (2023-09-09), The Teacher (Drama), Muhammad Abed Elrahman, Nabil Al Raee, Mahmoud Bakri, Cocoon Films, Cocoonfilms, Native Liberty, retrieved 2023-09-12
  14. ^ "The Teacher". TIFF. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  15. ^ Drury, Sharareh (9 September 2023). "'The Teacher' Director Farah Nabulsi Explains Why Shooting in Palestine Was Crucial". Variety. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  16. ^ Johnson, G. Allen (April 30, 2024). "Palestinian film 'The Teacher' captures SFFilm's top audience award". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  17. ^ Stojiljković, Marko (5 March 2024). "Yury Bykov's The Owner scoops the Belgrade Victor". Cineuropa. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  18. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (18 May 2024). "Cannes 2023 Titles 'Goodbye Julia' & 'Four Daughters' Lead Prizes At 8th Critics Awards For Arab Films". Deadline. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
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