Kamel El Basha
{{Short description|Palestinian actor and director}}
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kamel El Basha
| image = File:Kamel elbasha.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name = كامل الباشا
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Malha, Palestine,
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| native_name_lang = ar
| other_names =
| occupation = Actor, theatre director
| years_active = 1987–present
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| awards = Volpi Cup for Best Actor 2017
| website = {{url|kamelelbasha.com}}
}}
Kamel El Basha or Kamel el-Basha ({{langx|ar|كامل الباشا}}) (born {{circa|1962}}) is a Palestinian actor, theatre director, teacher, and translator.
Early life
Kamel El Basha was born around 1962 in Malha,{{cite web | title= Kamel El Basha| website=El Gouna Film Festival | url=https://elgounafilmfestival.com/jury/76| access-date=4 March 2024}} then a thriving village in Palestine known as al-Maliha, now a suburb in south-western Jerusalem, Israel.{{cite web | title=Manahat – Malha | website=Israel and You | date=10 October 2020 | url=https://www.israelandyou.com/manahat-malha/ | access-date=4 March 2024}}{{cite web | last=Shams | first=Alex | title=Retracing the Nakba in West Jerusalem's al-Malha | website=Alex Shams | date=16 May 2014 | url=https://alexshams.com/2014/05/16/retracing-the-nakba-in-west-jerusalems-al-malha/ | access-date=4 March 2024}} He recalls being five years old and running from his home with his family during the 1967 war, when Israel battled Syrian, Jordanian, and Egyptian armies, afterwards claiming a large amount of territory.
As a child, when there was no television, he would perform for other children in the neighbourhood in his home.
El Basha studied theatre from 1979 to 1983. As a young man, he was imprisoned by the Israeli authorities for two years owing to his activism on behalf of the Palestinian people.
He studied theatre in Baghdad, Iraq, at some point.
Career
El Basha has acted in, directed, and also written and translated plays for the stage.
He began his career as a stage actor after his release from prison, making a notable debut in the Arabic version of Brecht's The Exception and the Rule.
He has appeared in several Palestinian TV series and films, including Palestinian director Muayad Alayan's 2015 film Love, Theft and Other Entanglements, as well as his 2018 award-winning film about an affair between a married Israeli woman and a married Palestinian man, The Reports on Sarah and Saleem.{{cite web | title=The Reports on Sarah and Saleem | website=IFFR | date=28 January 2018 | url=https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2018/films/the-reports-on-sarah-and-saleem | access-date=4 March 2024}} {{cite web | last=Weissberg | first=Jay | title=Rotterdam Film Review: 'The Reports on Sarah and Saleem' | website=Variety | date=6 February 2018 | url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/the-reports-on-sarah-and-saleem-review-1202687004/ | access-date=4 March 2024}}
El Basha came to international attention for his role as Palestinian refugee Yasser Abdallah Salameh in the 2017 film The Insult by the Lebanese film director Ziad Doueiri.{{Cite news|url=https://en.vogue.me/culture/kamel-el-basha-wins-best-actor/|title=Kamel El Basha Wins Big at the Venice Film Festival|date=2017-09-10|work=Vogue Arabia|access-date=2017-12-01|language=en-US}} The film won several awards,{{cite web|title='The Insult', 'What Will People Say' among AFI FEST winners |work=Screen Daily |last=Kay |first=Jeremy |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/the-insult-what-will-people-say-among-afi-fest-winners/5124320.article | access-date=4 March 2024}}{{cite web|title='Félicité,' 'The Charmer' Among Palm Springs Film Festival Winners |work=Variety |last=Saperstein |first=Pat |date=14 January 2018 |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/festivals/felicite-the-charmer-palm-springs-film-festival-award-winners-2018-1202664231/ | access-date=4 March 2024}} and El Kamal won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance.
He starred in the 2023 short films An Orange in Jaffa and Palestinian Islands.{{cite web | title=Kamel El Basha | website=Unifrance | date=1 January 2023 | url=https://en.unifrance.org/directories/person/424504/kamel-el-basha | access-date=4 March 2024}} Also in 2023, he played safecracker Youssef Mizouni in the eight-part British heist television series Culprits.{{cite web | last=Robinson | first=Abby | title=Meet the characters in Disney Plus thriller | website=Radio Times | date=8 November 2023 | url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/culprits-cast-disney-plus/ | access-date=4 March 2024}}
He plays a major role in the 2024 Australian TV series House of Gods as Sheikh Mohammad, airing on ABC TV aind ABC iview. The series has been selected to be screened in the French competition Series Mania, while El Basha was awarded with the Best Actor prize.{{cite web
| url =https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/458991/
| title =French series Rematch triumphs at Series Mania
| last =Lemercier
| first =Fabien
| date =2024-03-25
| publisher = Cineuropa
| access-date =2024-03-28}}{{cite web | last=Taylor | first=Catherine | title=House of Gods' Kamel El Basha believes in the power of stories to bring people together | website=ABC News (Australia) | date=2 March 2024 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-03/house-of-gods-kamel-el-basha-acting/103521502 | access-date=2 March 2024| quote=My first memories are of the '67 war,... I was five years old and I remember running from our house with the whole family. }} This is an international competition dedicated to television series held in Lille since 2018.{{cite web | title=about | website=Festival Séries Mania | date=6 October 2023 | url=https://seriesmania.com/en/about/ | access-date=4 March 2024}} Sheikh Mohammad is an Iraqi imam, and the series focuses on relationships with his family, and among the Iraqi expatriate community living in Australia. Most of the other actors are Australian, including co-creator and co-star Osamah Sami, and Iraqi-born Maia Abbas. The series was filmed in western Sydney.{{cite web | last=Slatter | first=Sean | title=Kamel El Basha and Maia Abbas join Osamah Sami in Matchbox Pictures' 'House of Gods' | website=IF Magazine | date=10 March 2023 | url=https://if.com.au/kamel-el-basha-and-maia-abbas-join-osamah-sami-in-matchbox-pictures-house-of-gods/ | access-date=4 March 2024}}
Other activities
El Basha was artistic director of the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem from 2007 to 2011, and the artistic director of Quds Art from 2012.{{Cite web |title= Biography |url=https://english.kamelelbasha.com/biography |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=Kamel El Basha |language=en-US}}
Awards
Personal life
El Basha is Muslim, while his wife is a Palestinian Christian woman. {{as of|March 2024}} they live in East Jerusalem.
Filmography
=As actor=
- 2002 : Case (حاله )
- 2009: Lesh Sabreen
- 2015: Love, Theft and Other Entanglements as Abu Mustafa
- 2015: Solomon's Stone as a police investigator
- 2017: The Insult as Yasser Abdallah Salameh
- 2018: The Reports on Sarah and Saleem as Abo epraheem
- 2019 : Green Grass as Hussen
- 2020: The Translator as Prof Raed (also starring Palestinian actor Ziad Bakri)
- 2020: Carfew as Yihia
- 2022: Room 207 as Mina (TV)
- 2023: Culprits as Youssef Mizouni
- 2024: House of Gods as Sheikh Mohammad
- 2024: An Orange from Jaffa (Short film){{Cite web|url=https://en.unifrance.org/movie/58670/an-orange-from-jaffa |title= An Orange from Jaffa |date=3 February 2024|access-date=8 January 2025 |website= Unifrance |language=en}}
- TBA: Palestine 36
=Others=
- 2014: Al Helm: Martin Luther King in Palestine (documentary), writer and director
- 2016 : Defying my disability (documentary), executive producer
Selected theatre credits
=Directing=
- Suquut al Qastal (سقوط القسطل)
- Ness Kiis Rasas (نص كيس رصاص)
- Al Qamees al Masruq (القميص المسروق)
- Madeenat al Sa'aada (مدينة السعادة)
- Ward wa Yasmeen (ورد وياسمين)
- Al Arees (العريس)
- Sahra Maqdisiyyah (سهرة مقدسية)
=Acting=
- Al Qamees al Masruq (القميص المسروق)
- Al Aydi al Qazira (الأيدي القذرة)
- Al Zeer Salem (الزير سالم)
- Mawta bila Qubuur (موتى بلا قبور)
- Hajar al Tahqeeq (حجر التحقيق)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDB name|nm3517807}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basha, Kamel El}}
Category:Palestinian male film actors
Category:Jordanian male film actors
Category:Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners