Annemarie Jacir

Born in 1974, Jacir grew up in Saudi Arabia and moved to the United States at the age of 16. She majored in Politics and Literature at Claremont College. Subsequently she embarked on an unconventional career path. Her numerous occupations have included; telephone operating, radio DJing, English tutoring, set building, working as a news camerawoman, union organiser and directing plays until she finally discovered the joy of film making.

She worked in the film industry in Los Angeles before deciding to focus more on writing and directing. Her love for writing and directing was the reason why she then moved to New York to obtain a Masters degree in Film.

Jacir went on to co-found Philistine Films, an independent production company, focusing on productions related to the Arab world and Iran. Jacir shot and produced the documentary Until When, an in-depth portrait of the lives of several families living in the Deheisha refugee camp as well as several other films.

When asked whether it was possible to make Palestinian films without any political references Jacir told 6 degrees film:

“ I think Palestinians are making films about their experiences and that’s what people do everywhere so I don’t think it’s specific to Palestinians. French people make films about French experience and every French movie that is set in France is about being French. It’s very natural to make a film about your experiences…”

Not satisfied with successfully starting a production company, the multitalented Jacir then became the chief curator and co-founder of the groundbreaking Dreams of a Nation Palestinian cinema project. In 2003 she organised and curated the largest travelling film festival in Palestine.  She managed to screen for the first time on Palestinian soil archival Palestinian films from Revolution Cinema.

In 2004 Annemarie Jacir was named one of Filmmaker magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Cinema.  Her short film, Like Twenty Impossibles was the first Palestinian short film to be an official selection of the Cannes International Film Festival (Cinefondation).

Her first feature film Salt of This Sea (co-produced by Danny Glover) premiered at the Cannes festival in 2008 and has since received critical acclaim. It seems being female in a male dominated industry has not held Jacir back from making a significant contribution to the world of cinema.

Words by India Blair

Annemarie talks to CNN about Salt of This Sea