Mohammad Bakri

Mohammad (or sometimes written Mohamed) Bakri is a Palestinian actor and director whose innovative acting skills and ground breaking films turned him into one of the most admired and well known figures throughout Israel and the Arab world.

Bakri was born in 1953 in the Arab village of Bi’ina in North-West Israel where he went to elementary school and later moved to the city of Acre for his secondary education. In 1973 his creative spark led him to Tel Aviv University where he graduated with a degree in Acting and Arabic Literature three years later and immediately after began his professional acting career. He started performing in plays in several theatres in Israel and the West Bank, including the Haifa Theatre, al-Kasaba and the Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv. Soon after, Bakri became known as the star of Palestinian Film and Israeli television and his popularity continued to grow as he began to act in international films in France, the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium and Denmark. Successful and popular films the actor starred in include ‘Haifa’ (1996) ‘Private’ (2004) and ‘The Lark Farm’ (2007).

Through his films, Mohammad Bakri reveals the History of Palestine and its people to his audience and his strong desire and passion for the truth have at times created controversy and confusion. In April 2002 the Israel Defence Forces invaded a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin where over 50 people were killed. Jenin was sealed off from the rest of the world and no journalists were allowed into the camp for days after the invasion. Stories were spreading and circulating throughout the Arab world of gruesome and degrading murders of civilians being buried alive, of homes being demolished and innocent people being crushed by blazing buildings. Bakri entered the camp when an opportunity arose and embarked on interviewing Jenin residents in order to find the truth behind the rumors. He used the verbal testimonies, telling stories of traumatic massacres, torture and oppression and created ‘Jenin, Jenin’, a documentary which earned the director the Best Film award at the Carthage International Film Festival in 2002 and the International Prize for Mediterranean Documentary Filmmaking and Reporting. The huge success however did not come without a price.

After only three showings ‘Jenin, Jenin’ was banned by the Israeli Film Board in 2002 on the grounds that the film only revealed ‘one side of the story’. Bakri petitioned the High Court of Justice against the censor of the documentary and in 2004, after a prolonged fight, the court rejected the ban but joined the Film Board in calling the film a ‘propagandistic lie’.

Three years later in 2007 Bakri was sued for producing and screening ‘Jenin, Jenin’ in the midst of the ban for 2.5 million NIS by five soldiers who had fought in the Jenin refugee camp in 2002. A year later the charges were acquitted and the documentary’s success and popularity proved Mohammad Bakri’s determination and talent.

It seems that above all Mohammad Bakri’s creativity is used to uncover the truth about life, which he shares with his viewers with zealous passion. He explains that:

‘As an artist I cannot be a pessimist. Pessimism destroys love, and I have a love for life, as do so many others amongst us. What you can do is to pass on this message to your people’.

Words by Serafima Serafimova

You can listen to GAC’s interview with Mohammad Bakri in our film section. He talks about the film Laila’s Birthday.