Farah Nabulsi

Farah Nabulsi
Born
London, United Kingdom
EducationFrancis Holland School
OccupationsDirector, producer
Years active2016–present

Farah Nabulsi (Arabic: فرح النابلسي) 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,[1] and is the daughter of a Palestinian mother and Palestinian-Egyptian father.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4][1]

Career

In her late 30s, Nabulsi switched her career after working in the city as a CFA-qualified stockbroker at a boutique investment bank, and later JP Morgan.[3]

In 2016, she founded Native Liberty Productions, a not-for-profit media production company that aims to reverse the dehumanisation of the Palestinians and draw attention to the injustices they face.[5]

Nabulsi's directorial debut was the 2020 short film The Present, which earned multiple nominations and awards,[6] winning the 2021 BAFTA Award for Best Short Film.[7]

Her second feature film, The Teacher, premiered on 9 September 2023[8] at the Toronto International Film Festival[9] 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.[10]

Activism

Nabulsi founded oceansofinjustice.com, a digital resource that deconstructs the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.[5]

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."[11]

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.[12][13][14]

Accolades for films

The Present was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.[15] On 10 April 2021 it won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film; the only short that was up for both awards.[7] 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.[16] It was also BAFTA-Longlisted for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer (2024)[17] and BIFA-Longlisted in three categories (2023).[18] Saleh Bakri's performance in the film earned him several Best Actor awards, including at Belgrade Film Festival[19] 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.[20]

Year Film Academy Awards BAFTA Awards
Nom. Wins Nom. Wins
2021 The Present 1 1 1
2024 The Teacher 1

Filmography

Year Title Director Writer Producer
2016 Oceans of Injustice No Yes Yes Short
2017 Today They Took My Son No Yes Yes Short
2018 Nightmare of Gaza No Yes Yes Short
2020 The Present Yes Yes No Short
2023 The Teacher Yes Yes Yes Feature

References

  1. 1 2 "Palestinian filmmaker, Farah Nabulsi". Kuwait Times. 4 June 2017. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Ahmad, Tarek Ali (14 May 2019). "Farah Nabulsi: Palestinian investment banker turned activist filmmaker shines light on Nakba". Arab News Network. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 Clarke, Cath (6 April 2021). "'Film-making? Bring it on!': ex-stockbroker Farah Nabulsi on her Oscar nomination". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Dex, Robert (19 March 2021). "From finance to film: The former investment banker who has just been nominated for an Oscar". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Farah Nabulsi". Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  6. ↑ Parry, William (9 March 2021). "Farah Nabulsi: Her past in The Present and the future". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  7. 1 2 Clarke, Cath (2 April 2021). "The "Phenomenal Journey" of Oscar- and BAFTA-Nominated Short 'The Present'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Nabulsi, Farah (9 September 2023), The Teacher (Drama), Muhammad Abed Elrahman, Nabil Al Raee, Mahmoud Bakri, Cocoon Films, Cocoonfilms, Native Liberty, retrieved 12 September 2023
  9. ↑ "The Teacher". TIFF. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  10. ↑ Drury, Sharareh (9 September 2023). "'The Teacher' Director Farah Nabulsi Explains Why Shooting in Palestine Was Crucial". Variety. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "Film Workers Pledge to End Complicity". Film Workers For Palestine. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  12. ↑ Merali, Arzu (15 December 2017). "Why was Gary Lineker's Palestine tweet even controversial?". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  13. ↑ "Today They Took My Son". ICN - independent catholic news. 17 October 2016.
  14. ↑ Saka, Hatice (21 October 2018). "The only child I've ever known". Yeni Şafak (in Turkmen).
  15. ↑ Oscar-nominated Palestinian film 'The Present' debuts on Netflix and
  16. ↑ Johnson, G. Allen (30 April 2024). "Palestinian film 'The Teacher' captures SFFilm's top audience award". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  17. ↑ Ntim, Zac (3 January 2025). "BAFTA Longlists Revealed: 'Emilia Perez' & 'Conclave' Lead The Pack". Deadline. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  18. ↑ "BIFA 2023 Longlists | New Talent Categories · BIFA · British Independent Film Awards". BIFA · British Independent Film Awards. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  19. ↑ Stojiljković, Marko (5 March 2024). "Yury Bykov's The Owner scoops the Belgrade Victor". Cineuropa. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  20. ↑ Goodfellow, Melanie (18 May 2024). "Cannes 2023 Titles 'Goodbye Julia' & 'Four Daughters' Lead Prizes At 8th Critics Awards For Arab Films". Deadline. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.