Azza El-Hassan

Azza El Hassan, born April 21, 1971, in Amman, Jordan is a Palestinian documentary filmmake r, cinematographer, producer and writer. Her documentary films mostly reflect her experience living in exile and her experience living in Palestine. One of her best known works is Zaman al-akhbar. a decision her parents were strongly against. and started her career in documentary film making. As a child of Palestinian parents, she needed find that part of herself due to the fact she lived in exile most of her life.

Maysun wa Majida (Arab Women Speak Out, 1997) In this film, El-Hassan portraits two women, Maysun and Majida.

Zaman al-akhbar (News Time, 2001) Zaman al-akhbar is said to be one of her well known films. When El-Hassan was trying to document her new film, her projects are all cancelled and she is told that people do not need to see films, they need to be informed about the news. One woman, Ra'eda, attempts to connect with her father after he is killed in 1975 by Israeli soldiers by meeting people that knew him. Another woman, Hagar, left Palestine for Colombia and attempts to return after her husband is killed in a robbery, finding that Ramallah is under occupation. Her children, Samia, Surida and Sarah, ask Azza El-Hassan to make a film about their mother's life in order to reconcile their relationship.

The name of the film comes from "projections that the Palestinian children of today will grow up on average three centimeters shorter than their parents, thanks to the deprivations of occupation." Maysoon & Majida 1996 Khan Mousa Three Centimetres Less 2003 Muluk wa Kumbars 2014 The Place 2 2019 The Unbearable Presence of Asmahan

Awards and nominations

In 1999 her film Kousha Mousa (Title Deed from Moses) won the Best Documentary Film at the Independent Film Festival in London In 2001 her film Zaman al-akhbat (News Time) won the Grierson Award for the Best Newcomer Film at the Jury Special Award at the Arab Screen Independent Film Festival In 2015, her film The Unbearable Presence of Asmahan won the Aleph Documentary Award at the Beirut International Film Festival