Najwa Najjar
{{Short description|Palestinian film director and screenwriter}}
Najwa Najjar ({{langx|ar|نجوى نجار}}) is a film writer and director. She was born to a Jordanian father and Palestinian mother. She began her career making commercials and has worked in both documentary and fiction since 1999. Najjar lives in the Palestinian Territories.{{cite web |title=Najwa Najjar |url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/najwanajjar |accessdate=15 August 2022 |work=The Guardian}}
works
Her debut feature film Pomegranates and Myrrh won 10 awards,{{Which?|date=August 2022}} and was released theatrically and screened at over 80 international festivals.{{cite news |date=29 August 2011 |title=Palestinian drama 'Pomegranates and Myrrh' opens in UAE at Eid |newspaper=Al Bawaba |url=https://www.albawaba.com/business/pr/palestinian-drama-%E2%80%98pomegranates-and-myrrh%E2%80%99-opens-uae-eid-390303 |access-date=15 August 2022}}{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=John |date=15 July 2009 |title=Pomegranates and Myrrh |newspaper=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/reviews/pomegranates-and-myrrh-1200475326/ |access-date=15 August 2022}}{{cite news |last=Chaudhary |first=Suchitra Bajpai |date=16 September 2011 |title=My world: Film-maker Najwa Najjar |newspaper=Gulf News |url=http://gulfnews.com/life-style/people/my-world-film-maker-najwa-najjar-1.864500 |access-date=15 August 2022}} When the film was first screened in Ramallah, there was public outcry by the Hamas Government in Gaza{{cite news |last=Kuttab |first=Daoud |date=4 May 2009 |title=Palestinians Angry About Portrayal of Prisoners' Wife by Palestinian Filmmaker |newspaper=Huffington Post |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/palestinians-angry-about_b_182219 |access-date=15 August 2022}} over the film's portrayal of "what was deemed its 'unpatriotic' portrayal of an untrustworthy wife of a political prisoner."{{cite book|last=Ball|first=Anna|title=Palestinian Literature and Film in Postcolonial Feminist Perspective|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-415-88862-2|pages=70–71, 182–183|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abv7kA6Y_LgC&q=Najwa+Najjar&pg=PA70}} At the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, the film won the Best Arab Film award.{{cite news |last=Ebiri |first=Bilge |date=4 November 2009 |title=6 Best Middle Eastern Films From Doha-Tribeca Fest |newspaper=Vulture |url=https://www.vulture.com/2009/11/doha-tribeca_fests_six_best_mi.html |access-date=15 August 2022}}{{cite news |last=Jaafar |first=Ali |date=4 December 2009 |title=Rab Pack: the Arab new wave |newspaper=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2009/biz/news/rab-pack-the-arab-new-wave-1118012241/ |access-date=15 August 2022}}
The 1999 documentary film Naim and Wadee’a was based on Najjar's family and includes the oral histories of Na’im Azar and Wadee’a Aghabi, a couple who were forced to leave their Jaffa home in 1948. The film won the Award for Films of Conflict and Resolution at the 2000 Hamptons International Film Festival.{{cite book |last=Farsoun |first=Samih K. |url=https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof0000fars |title=Culture and Customs of the Palestinians |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-313-32051-4 |location=Westport, Conn. [u.a.] |page=[https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof0000fars/page/121 121] |quote=Najwa Najjar. |url-access=registration}}
Her film, Eyes of a Thief, was the official Palestinian submission to the 87th Academy Awards.{{cite web |title=Fabbrica dei Progetti La Selezione del 2011 |url=http://www.romacinemafest.it/tower-file-storage/cinema/10299/attachment/FILE1315484900181-16.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000025/http://www.romacinemafest.it/tower-file-storage/cinema/10299/attachment/FILE1315484900181-16.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |accessdate=15 August 2022 |website=Fondazione Cinema per Roma}}
Filmography
The following are some of the films he has made:{{cite news |last=Najjar |first=Najwa |date=18 April 2008 |title=How cinema helped me to survive in Palestine |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2008/apr/18/howcinemahelpedmetosurviv |access-date=15 August 2022}}{{cite web |title=Najwa Najjar |url=https://www.festivalscope.com/director/najjar-najwa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610203437/https://www.festivalscope.com/director/najjar-najwa |archive-date=10 June 2015 |accessdate=15 August 2022 |website=Festival Scope}}
- Naim and Wadee’a (1999)
- Quintessence of Oblivion (2000)
- A Boy Named Mohamed (2001)
- Blue Gold (2004)
- They Came from the East (2004)
- Yasmine Tughani (2006)
- Pomegranates and Myrrh (2009)
- Eyes of a Thief (2014)
- Between Heaven and Earth (2019)
References
{{Reflist}}
= General references =
- {{Cite news |last=Goodfellow |first=Melanie |date=6 December 2019 |title=Najwa Najjar talks about her middle-class Palestinian divorce drama ‘Between Heaven And Earth’ |work=Screen Daily |url=https://www.screendaily.com/features/najwa-najjar-talks-about-her-middle-class-palestinian-divorce-drama-between-heaven-and-earth/5145392.article |access-date=15 August 2022}}
- {{Cite news |date=31 January 2020 |title=‘Between Heaven and Earth’: Film Review |work=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/beyond-heaven-earth-1275489/ |access-date=15 August 2022}}
- {{Cite news |last=Salwa |first=Ola |date=26 November 2019 |title=Review: Between Heaven and Earth |work=Cineuropa |url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/381955/ |access-date=15 August 2022}}
- {{Cite news |last=Aftab |first=Kaleem |date=13 February 2020 |title=Why a destroyed Palestinian village is the real star of 'Between Heaven and Earth' |work=The National |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film/why-a-destroyed-palestinian-village-is-the-real-star-of-between-heaven-and-earth-1.978481 |access-date=15 August 2022}}
- {{Cite news |last=Mustafa |first=Hani |date=3 December 2019 |title=CIFF41: Endless joy |work=Ahram Online |url=https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/50/1205/357100/AlAhram-Weekly/Culture/CIFF-Endless-joy.aspx |access-date=15 August 2022}}
- {{Cite web |date=5 December 2019 |title=((بين الجنة و الارض)) صرخة فلسطينية في وجه الظلم |url=https://alshiraa.com/posts/byn-algn-o-alard-srkh-flstyny-fy-ogh-althlm-488 |access-date=15 August 2022 |website=Alshira |language=Arabic}}
- {{Cite web |last=Rothe |first=E. Nina |date=19 November 2019 |title=3 Must-Watch Arab Movies By Female Filmmakers To Watch At The Cairo International Film Festival |url=https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/culture/must-watch-movies-at-the-upcoming-cairo-international-film-festival |access-date=15 August 2022 |website=Harper's Bazaar Arabia}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1335080|Najwa Najjar}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLlvKWu492I Interview with Najjar] at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival
- [http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2722&ed=167&edid=167 Women vs Occupation in Pomegranates and Myrrh]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Najjar, Najwa}}