Hany Abu-Assad

Hany Abu-Assad
هاني أبو أسعد
Born (1961-10-11) 11 October 1961 (age 63)
Nazareth, Israel
CitizenshipPalestinian, Israeli, Dutch[1]
OccupationFilm director
Notable workParadise Now
Omar

Hany Abu-Assad (Arabic: هاني أبو أسعد; born 11 October 1961) is a Palestinian-Dutch film director. He has received two Academy Award nominations: in 2006 for his film Paradise Now,[2] and again in 2013 for his film Omar.[3]

Early life

Panoramic view of Nazareth, Abu-Assad's birthplace

Abu-Assad was born to a Palestinian Muslim family, in the city of Nazareth in 1961.[4][3] He immigrated to the Netherlands in 1981, where he studied aerodynamics in Haarlem and worked as an airplane engineer for several years. Abu-Assad was inspired to pursue a career in cinema after watching a film by Michel Khleifi.[5] Abu-Assad initially started as a TV producer working on commissions for Channel 4 and the BBC. He founded Ayloul Film Productions in 1990 with the Palestinian film-maker Rashid Masharawi.[6]

Film career

In 1992, Abu-Assad wrote and directed his first short film, Paper House which was made for NOS Dutch television and won several international awards at film festivals in Paris and Jerusalem.[7]

In 1998, he directed his first film, Het 14de kippetje (The Fourteenth Chick), from a script by writer Arnon Grunberg. Later films include the documentary Nazareth 2000 (2000) and the feature film Rana's Wedding (2002).

In 2002, Ford Transit was nominated for the Ophir Award in the documentary category.[8]

In 2006, his film Paradise Now won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film,[9] and received an Oscar-nomination in the same category.[10] In 2005 Paradise Now won the Golden Calf for Best Feature Film at the Netherlands Film Festival.

His 2013 film Omar was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival[11] where it won the Jury Prize.[12] In 2014, Omar was the Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, and was nominated for the award.[13] The film also won the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.[14]

In 2014, Abu-Assad was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[15]

In 2018, Abu-Assad joined the film jury for ShortCutz Amsterdam, an annual film festival promoting short films in Amsterdam.[16][17]

Filmography

Documentaries

See also

References

  1. ^ "Hij wil gaan en hij gaat ook" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. 20 February 2006. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014. Hany Abu-Assad heeft een Israëlisch en een Nederlands paspoort, hij woont tegenwoordig in Los Angeles, maar, alle relativeringsvermogen en zelfspot ten spijt, hij is en blijft een Palestijn, geboren in Nazareth.
  2. ^ Hofstein, Avner (3 February 2006). "Oscar nominee: People hate Israelis for a reason". Ynet. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b Kamin, Debra; Steinberg, Jessica (16 January 2014). "Palestinian movie, partly filmed in Israel, gets Oscar Nod". Times of Israel. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  4. ^ Kamin, Debra (17 December 2011). "Palestinian filmmakers long for home". Variety. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  5. ^ Case Bryant, Christa (2 March 2014). "Oscar-nominated 'Omar' shines spotlight on film mecca of Nazareth". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Hany Abu-Assad". International Film Festival Rotterdam. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Hany Abu-Assad - Biography". San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  8. ^ ביקורת על מועמדותו של סרט מוקומנטרי לפרס אופיר לסרט התיעודי הקצר. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Paradise Now". Golden Globes. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  10. ^ "The 78th Academy Awards". oscars.org. 5 March 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  11. ^ "2013 Official Selection". Cannes. 30 April 2013. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  12. ^ Richford, Rhonda (26 May 2013). "Cannes: 'The Missing Picture' Wins Un Certain Regard Prize". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  13. ^ "The 86th Academy Awards". oscars.org. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Omar". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  15. ^ Kay, Jeremy (26 June 2014). "Academy invites 271 people to join". Screen Daily. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Sisters en Nightshade grote kanshebbers Shortcutz Annual Awards". Filmkrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Shortcutz Amsterdam". kriterion.nl. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2019.

Further reading