Mohammad Bakri

Mohammad Bakri (, ; 27 November 1953 – 24 December 2025) was a Palestinian actor and film director with Israeli citizenship. He is often regarded as one of the most preeminent figures in the history of Palestinian cinema and theatre.

Early life and education Bakri was born into an Arab-Muslim family in the village of Bi'ina in Israel on 27 November 1953. He went to elementary school in his hometown and received his secondary education in the nearby city of Akko. He then studied acting and Arabic literature at Tel Aviv University in 1973 and graduated three years later.

After a few years of acting in Palestinian and Israeli film, Bakri began to act in international films in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada and Italy. He also directed two documentary films including Jenin, Jenin.

Controversy After Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002, Bakri interviewed residents of the Jenin refugee camp and produced a film based on their testimony, Jenin, Jenin. Some of the survivors described a massacre of hundreds of people. After three showings the film was banned by the Israeli Film Board, which claimed it was not a documentary as it showed only one side of the story. Nevertheless, Bakri showed the film at the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem cinematheques and Arab theatres such as Al-Midan in Haifa.

Bakri petitioned the High Court of Justice for prohibiting the screening of the film on the grounds that it distorted the truth. After a long fight, the court rejected the censor's decision. In 2004, the Israeli High Court finally upheld its earlier overturn of the ban, but joined the Film Board in labeling the film a "propagandistic lie" based on Israeli sources that acknowledged only 52 Palestinian deaths, 38 of whom Israeli sources argued were armed fighters.

In 2007, five soldiers who fought in the Jenin refugee camp during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 sued the cinematheques in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for screening the film in the midst of the ban, and sued Bakri for 2.5 million NIS for producing the film.

Jenin-Jenin earned two awards: the best film award at the 2002 Carthage International Film Festival and the International Prize for Mediterranean Documentary Filmmaking and Reporting.

Israeli right-wing group Im Tirtzu organized a campaign against Bakri. Im Tirtzu opposed a production of Federico García Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba in which Bakri played the role of Bernarda. The play was produced in 2012 at Tel Aviv's Tzavta Theater. Israel's Academy of the Performing Arts was behind the production. While refusing Im Tirtzu's request to intervene, Culture Minister Limor Livnat criticized the judgment of the theater's administration.

Bakri consistently emphasized his Palestinian identity throughout his career. and together they had six children. His sons Adam, Ziad and Saleh are also actors.

Bakri died from heart disease at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya on 24 December 2025 at the age of 72.

Filmography

Actor Year Title Role Director(s) Country Notes 1983 Hanna K. Selim Bakri Constantin Costa-Gavras Israel, France 1984 Beyond the Walls Issan Uri Barabash, Eran Preis Israel 1986 Esther Mordecai Amos Gitai Israel, UK 1987 Death Before Dishonor Gavril Terry Leonard U.S. 1988 Rami og Julie Rami's cousin Erik Clausen Denmark 1989 Ha Miklat Rashid Masharawi Israel Short film 1989 Foreign Nights Morod Izidore K. Musallam Canada 1991 Cup Final Ziad Eran Riklis Israel 1993 The Mummy Lives Alexatos Gerry O'Hara U.S. 1994 Beyond the Walls II Issan Uri Barabash Israel 1994 The Tale of the Three Jewels Aida's father Michel Khleifi Palestine, Belgium 1994 The Milky Way Mahmud Ali Nassar Israel 1995 Sous les pieds des femmes Amin 1996 Rachid Krim France 1996 Haifa Haifa Rashid Masharawi Palestine, Netherlands 1997 Desperado Square Avram Mandabon Benny Toraty Israel 2001 The Body Abu Yusef Jonas McCord U.S. 2001 The Olive Harvest Raeda's father Hannah Elias Palestine 2004 Private Mohammad B. Saverio Costanzo Italy 2005 Yasmine's song Abu Odeh Najwa Najjar Palestine Short film 2007 The Lark Farm Nazim Paolo and Vittorio Taviani Italy 2010 Marriage and Other Disasters Bauer Nina Di Majo Italy 2011 The Salt Fisherman Ziad Bakri Palestine Short film 2013 Stay Human – The Reading Movie Narrator Fulvio Renzi Italy Chapter XI 2014 Tyrant Sheik Rashid Gideon Raff U.S. TV series 2016 Of Kings and Prophets Samuel Adam Cooper, Bill Collage U.S. TV series 2016 The Night Of Tariq James Marsh U.S. Miniseries 2017 The Bureau Shahannah Éric Rochant France 5 episodes, TV series 2017 Wajib Abu Shadi Annemarie Jacir Palestine 2017 American Assassin Ashani Michael Cuesta U.S. 2020 Homeland Abdu Qadir G'ulom U.S. 8 episodes, T.V. Series 2021The Stranger Abu AdnanAmeer Fakher EldinPalestine 2025 All That's Left Of You Older Sharif Cherien Dabis Germany, Cyprus

Director Year Title Country Notes 1999 1948 Palestine, Israel Documentary film 2002 Jenin, Jenin Palestine Documentary film 2004 Since You Left Israel Documentary film 2009 Zahra Palestine Documentary film

Awards and recognition Award for the Best Actor for the role in Private in Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 2005 Best Actor Award for Private by Saverio Costanzo, Locarno International Film Festival 2004 Palestine Prize for Cinema 1999 Ramallah Award for the Best Actor for the role in Haifa by Rashid Masharawi, Valencia Festival. 1997 Award for the Best Actor for the role in Beyond the Walls II by Uri Barabash, Valencia Festival. 1994 Award for the Best Actor for the role in Beyond the Walls by Uri Barabash, Israel. 1984 Award for the best actor for the role in Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih, adapted and directed by Ouriel Zohar, in the Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre, Israel, 1993.