Happy 59th Birthday, Hans Abu-Assad! Born today in n 1961, this Dutch-Palestinian-Israeli film director has received two Academy Award nominations.
Abu-Assad was born to a Palestinian family, in the city of Nazareth, Israel. Years later, in 1981, immigrated to the Netherlands It was here that he studied aerodynamics in Haarlem, North Holland and worked as an airplane engineer for several years.
Abu-Assad was inspired after watching a film by Belgium-based Palestinian film writer, director and producer Michel Khleifi to pursue a career in cinema.
Abu-Assad initially started as a television producer working on commissions for Channel 4 and the BBC. He later founded Ayloul Film Productions in 1990 with the Palestinian film director Rashid Masharawi.
Two years later, Abu-Assad wrote and directed his first film. This was the twenty-eight-minute 1992 short film 'Paper House'.
The short recounts the adventures of a thirteen-year-old Palestinian boy who tries to build his own house after his family’s home has been destroyed by the occupation forces.
'Paper House' was later broadcasted by NOS Dutch television and won several international awards at film festivals in Paris, France and also in Israel.
Six years later, Abu-Assad directed his first feature film. This was the 1998 Dutch drama/romance film 'Het 14de kippetje' ('The Fourteenth Chick'), from a script by writer Dutch writer of novels, essays, and columns, and journalist Arnon Grunberg.
'Het 14e kippetje' was the opening picture at the 17th Nederlands Film Festival in Utrecht. However, the film was not a success later in cinemas.
In the early 2000s, Abu-Assad directed the 2002 Palestinian drama/romance comedy film 'Al qods fee yom akhar' ('Rana's Wedding', also known as 'Jerusalem, Another Day'). It is one of the features of which Abu-Assad is known.
Three years later, Abu-Assad co-wrote and directed the film for which he is best known This was the 2005 Palestinian/French/German/Dutch/Israeli drama/war film 'Paradise Now'.
Khaled (Ali Suliman) and Said (Kais Nashef) are Palestinian friends recruited by a terrorist group to become suicide bombers in Tel Aviv.
Armed with explosives, they attempt to cross into Israel, but are pursued by suspicious border guards. Khaled later returns to the terrorists, while Said sneaks into Israel and ponders detonating at another target.
After Khaled and Said reunite to begin their mission again, Khaled has reconsidered, and tries to convince Said to give up the bombing as well.
Upon release, Paradise Now' went on to become nominated and win accolades at many prestigious international film festivals.
The following year, Abu-Assad won a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This occurred at the 63rd Golden Globe Awards in mid- January 2006.
In Abu-Assad's acceptance speech, he made a plea for a Palestinian state, saying he hoped that the Golden Globe was “a recognition that the Palestinians deserve their liberty and equality unconditionally".
Two months later, 'Paradise Now' received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. However, it did not win. This occurred at the 78th Academy Awards in early March 2006.
Said Abu-Assad at the event: "The film is an artistic point of view of that political issue. The politicians want to see it as black and white, good and evil, and art wants to see it as a human thing."
In the October 26, 2005 article for The New York Times, American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet Stephen Holden applauded the suspense and plot twists in 'Paradise Now', as well as the risks involved in humanizing suicide bombers.
He wrote: "...it is easier to see a suicide bomber as a 21st-century Manchurian Candidate - a soulless, robotic shell of a person programmed to wreak destruction - than it is to picture a flesh-and-blood human being doing the damage."
In November 2005, Roger Ebert began his review by writing: "What I am waiting for is a movie about a suicide bomber who is an atheist, who expects oblivion after his death and pulls the trigger after having reasoned that the deaths of his victims will advance a cause so important that he, and they, must die.
When religion enters into the picture, it clouds the meaning of the act: How selfless is your sacrifice if you believe you will be instantly rewarded for eternity?"
What happens afterward?" asks one of the two suicide bombers in "Paradise Now."
"Two angels will pick you up."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely.
In contrast, in a February 7, 2006 article for the Israeli news and general-content website Ynetnews entitled "Anti-Semitism Now", Israeli author Irit Linur criticized the feature as a "quality Nazi film".
Seven years later, Abu-Assad's 2013 Palestinian drama/thriller film 'Omar' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 66th Cannes Film Festival. While there, it won the Jury Prize.
The following year, Abu-Assad co-wrote and directed the 2015 Palestinian drama/music film 'Ya tayr el tayer' ('The Idol').
Two years later, 'The Idol' was selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film. However, it wasn't nominated. This occurred at the 89th Academy Awards in late February 2017.
Later that same year, Abu-Assad directed the 2017 American drama adventure/thriller film 'The Mountain Between Us'.
The film is based on the 2011 Christian romance-disaster fiction novel of the same name by American author Charles Martin.
'The Mountain Between Us' premiered on September 9, 2017, at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival, and was theatrically released in the United States in early October.
Abu-Assad has been active from 1992–present.
#borntodirect
@HanyAbuAssad
@timesofisrael
@RogerEbert
@HollywoodReporter
@ScreenDaily
@encyclopediacom
@iffrotterdam
No comments:
Post a Comment