Farah Nabulsi

Farah Nabulsi is a British Palestinian director, screenwriter, and film producer, also known for her human rights advocacy. For her short film The Present, she was nominated for an Academy Award and won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film.

Early life and education Farah Nabulsi was born and raised in London, England, and is the daughter of a Palestinian mother and Palestinian-Egyptian father. Her father came to the UK to study for a PhD in civil engineering, and her mother arrived via Kuwait when her family left Palestine following the Arab-Israeli War of 1967.

Nabulsi attended Francis Holland School for girls and is a graduate of Cass Business School, London.

She made the decision following a trip to Palestine in 2013 for the first time as an adult to trace her family roots. winning the 2021 BAFTA Award for Best Short Film. at the Toronto International Film Festival and tells the story of a Palestinian school teacher who struggles to reconcile his risky commitment to political resistance with his emotional support for one of his students and the chance of a new relationship with a volunteer worker.

Activism Nabulsi founded oceansofinjustice.com, a digital resource that deconstructs the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.

In September 2025, she signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."

Recognition and awards Nabulsi has been invited to screen her work and speak at various events, including the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where she addressed the delegates in the Trustee Chamber Council.

Accolades for films The Present was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. On 10 April 2021 it won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film; the only short that was up for both awards. Prior to this, The Present won many awards at various film festivals around the world.

The Teacher won over a dozen international awards, including the Audience Award at San Francisco International Film Festival. It was also BAFTA-Longlisted for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer (2024) and BIFA-Longlisted in three categories (2023). Saleh Bakri's performance in the film earned him several Best Actor awards, including at Belgrade Film Festival and from the 8th Critics Awards for Arab Films, where The Teacher was also nominated in three other categories: Best Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Music.

Filmography + Year Title Director Writer Producer 2016 Oceans of Injustice Short 2017 Today They Took My Son Short 2018 Nightmare of Gaza Short 2020 The Present Short 2023The TeacherFeature