Annemarie Jacir
Annemarie Jacir (born 1975 in Bethlehem, Palestine) is a Palestinian filmmaker, writer, and film producer.
Annemarie Jacir

Zafer · CC BY 4.0
- Born
- 1974 · Amman.
- Nationality
- Palestine
- Occupation
- film director · screenwriter · poet · writer
- Honours
- honorary doctorate of Artois University
- Languages
- Arabic
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Annemarie Jacir (born 1975 in Bethlehem, Palestine) is a Palestinian filmmaker, writer, and film producer.
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Annemarie Jacir (born 1974) is a film director, poet and screenwriter, among other activities and a national of Palestine. The film director was born in Amman. Annemarie Jacir worked for Birzeit University.
Languages used include Arabic. The film director received honorary doctorate of Artois University.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q2917353 · wikipedia · Annemarie Jacir
In this article
Career
Career
Jacir was born to a Christian family in Bethlehem, Palestine, in 1975. She spent her childhood and youth in Saudi Arabia and later moved to the United States for her academic education. In 2002, she received her Master of Fine Arts from the Columbia University School of the Arts.
Poetry
Poetry
Jacir's poetry and stories have been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Mizna, the Crab Orchard Review, and The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology. She has appeared in poetry readings with poet Amiri Baraka. She has won several screenwriting awards and was a finalist for the Grand Prix du Meilleur Scenariste in Paris.
Other roles
Other roles
• Illustration — Actress Reem Abu Sbaih (far left) and composer Kamran Rastegar (second from right), with Jacir (far right) at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere of Like Twenty Impossibles Jacir has served as a jury member to festivals including Cannes in 2018 (joining the Un Certain Regard jury, presided by Puerto Rican/American actor Benicio del Toro) and the Berlin International Film Festival in 2020, which was presided over by English actor Jeremy Irons. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and the Asian Pacific Screen Academy and a board member of Palestine Cinema Days and Alwan for the Arts, a cultural organization devoted to North African and Middle Eastern art. She is a founding member of the Palestinian Filmmakers' Collective, based in Palestine. She has taught at Columbia University, Bethlehem University, and Birzeit University, and in refugee camps in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan. She is also a mentor for eQuinoxe Screenwriting Lab and Doha Film Institute. She is co-founder of the artist-run space Dar Yusuf Nasri Jacir for Art & Research in her hometown of Bethlehem.
Curator
Curator
Jacir is chief curator and founder of the "Dreams of a Nation" Palestinian cinema project, dedicated to the promotion of Palestinian cinema. In 2003, she organized and curated Dreams of a Nation, the largest traveling film festival in Palestine, which included the screening of archival Palestinian films from Revolution Cinema. The festival took place in several Palestinian cities including Bethlehem, Ramallah, Gaza City, Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Nablus.
Filmography
Filmography
• Palestine 36 (2025) • From Palestine with Love (Postcard from the Future) (2022) • Wajib (2017) • When I Saw You (2012) • Salt of This Sea (2008) • An Explanation – And Then Burn the Ashes (2006) • Quelques miettes pour les oiseaux (2005) • like twenty impossibles (2003) • The Satellite Shooters (2001) • A Post Oslo History (2001)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1974
Annemarie Jacir born at Amman.
Filmmaking
Jacir has been working in independent cinema since 1998 and has written, directed and produced a number of award-winning films. Two of her films have premiered as Official Selections in Cannes, one in Berlin and in Venice, Locarno, Rotterdam, Toronto, and Telluride. All three of her feature films were selected as Palestine's Oscar Entry for Foreign Language Film. Her short film, Like Twenty Impossibles was the first Arab short film to ever be an official selection of the Cannes International Film Festival and went on to be a Student Academy Awards Finalist, winning more than 15 awards at International festivals including Best Film at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films, Chicago International Film Festival, Institute Du Monde Arabe Biennale, Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival, and IFP/New York. like twenty impossibles was named one of the ten best films of 2003 by Gavin Smith of Film Comment Magazine. In 2007, Jacir shot the first feature film by a Palestinian woman director, Salt of this Sea, the story of a working-class American woman whose parents were Palestinian refugees, making her first visit to her family's homeland. It was shown in the Official Selection of the Cannes International Film Festival in 2008. Salt of this Sea won the FIPRESCI Critics Award and garnered fourteen other international awards including Best Film in Milan. The film was Palestine's submission to the 81st Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also received many other awards and nominations, including winning the Muhr Arab Award for Best Screenplay at the Dubai International Film Festival, a Cinema in Motion award at the 55th San Sebastian International Film Festival and a FIPRESCI award. Salt of this Sea starred poet Suheir Hammad alongside Saleh Bakri. Her second feature, When I Saw You, won Best Asian Film at the Berlinale, Best Arab Film in Abu Dhabi and Best Film in Amiens, Phoenix, and Olympia, and garnered a nomination at the Asian Pacific Screen Awards. Working in both fiction and documentary, other films include Until When, A Few Crumbs for the Birds, which she also shot as cinematographer, and short film A Post Oslo History. In 2011, Chinese director Zhang Yimou selected her to be his first protégée as part of the Rolex Arts Initiative. Jacir also curates, actively promoting independent cinema in the region. Founder of Philistine Films, she collaborates as an editor, screenwriter and occasional producer with fellow filmmakers. Her 2017 film Wajib won or was nominated for 35 international awards, including Best Film in Mar Del Plata, Dubai, Locarno and Kerala, and a jury mention at the London Film Festival.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Annemarie Jacir”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2917353: Annemarie Jacir
Unverified · Wikidata
Recognition and awards
In 2004, Jacir was named one of Filmmaker magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Cinema. Her 2012 film When I Saw You, that featured Saleh Bakri, Ruba Blal and Mahmoud Asfa, won the NETPAC Critics Award for Best Asian Film at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. It was selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards. Her 2017 film Wajib starred Saleh Bakri along with his father, veteran actor Mohammad Bakri. It won them 36 international awards including Best Film at international festivals at Mar Del Plata, Dubai, Amiens, DC Film Festival, Kosovo and Kerala and a jury mention at the London BFI Festival. Saleh and Mohammad Bakri jointly won the Muhr Award for Best Actor, with Jacir winning the Muhr Award for Best Fiction Feature at the Dubai International Film Festival 2017.
References ==== Further reading
References ==== Further reading
• Farhat, Maymanah The Chicago Palestine Film Festival's Evening of Shorts • Annemarie Jacir: For Cultural Purposes Only, Dreams of a Nation, 2002 • Annemarie Jacir: Coming Home: Palestinian Cinema, 27 February 2007, The Electronic Intifada • Rebecca Kemp: Palestine On Film, Interviews with Palestinian Filmmakers, Fall 2006 • Annemarie Kattan Jacir: A Tale of Two Sisters: Witnessing an Undercover Israeli Operation in Ramallah (1), 15 November 2006, The Electronic Intifada • Brentjes, Rana: The multiple layers of identity in Annemarie Jacir`s films, Deutscher Orientalistentag, 2003 • Annemarie Jacir: Letter from the editing room Paris, December 2007, This week in Palestine • Annemarie Jacir: Another denial of entry for a film-maker..., May 1, 2008, Denied Entry

Red Carpet: Palestinian actress Reem Abu Sbaih, Composer Kamran Rastegar, and Writer-Director Annemarie Jacir at Cannes International Film Festival 2003 for World Premiere of like twenty impossibles http: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22like_twenty_impossibles%22
HamidDabashi

Annemarie Jacir at TIFF 2025.
Danielle G. Campbell
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Blincoe, Nicholas. Annemarie Jacir: an auteur in exile. The Guardian. 2014-06-05. 0261-3077.
- 2.Annemarie Jacir. trigon-film.
- 3.Alumni Spotlight: Annemarie Jacir '02. Columbia University School of the Arts. September 10, 2019.
- 4.Team. Philistine Films.
- 5.San Sebastian Film Festival.
- 6.Oumlil, Kenza. Re-Writing History on Screen: Annemarie Jacir's "Salt of This Sea.". Arab Studies Quarterly. 38. 3. 586–600. 2016. 10.13169/arabstudquar.38.3.0586.
- 7.Mundell, Ian. 'Salt' to be Palestinian Oscar entry. Variety. September 22, 2008.
- 8.Annemarie Jacir. Dubai International Film Festival.
- 9.Cinema In Motion Archive.
- 10.Annemarie Jacir. Bulbula.
- 11.Columbia University. Annemarie Jacir. Center for Palestine Studies. 26 September 2016.
- 12.Wajib (2017) Awards & Festivals. mubi.com.
- 13.61st BFI London Film Festival announces 2017 winners. BFI. 14 October 2017.
- 14.Grand Prix du Meilleur Scenariste.
- 15.Un Certain Regard Jury 2018. Festival de Cannes. 2018-05-07.
- 16.Berlinale 2020: International Jury. www.berlinale.de. February 4, 2020.
- 17.TorinoFilmLab Annemarie Jacir. TorinoFilmLab.
- 18.International Screenwriters´ Workshop. www.equinoxe-europe.org.
- 19.Doha Film Institute Hosts 'Hezayah Screenwriting Lab' for Feature Screenplay Development. Doha Film Institute. 8 July 2020.
- 20.Bishara, Hakim. Supporters Raise Over $30K for Bethlehem Arts Center Raided by Israeli Soldiers. Hyperallergic. 2021-06-14.
- 21.Verso Books. Dreams of a Nation: On Palestinian Cinema. 2006. 9781844670888.
- 22.Dreams of a Nation. Columbia University Center for Palestine Studies.
- 23.Jacir, Annemarie. Coming Home: Palestinian Cinema. Electronic Intifada. December 30, 2007.
- 24.Rapfogel, Jared. A Report of Dreams of a Nation – A Palestinian Film Festival. Senses of Cinema. March 15, 2003.
- 25.Meza, Ed. 'When I Saw You' to be Palestinian Oscar entry. Variety. 6 September 2012.
- 26.Simon, Alissa. Palestinian Annemarie Jacir's 'Wajib' Wins Big at Dubai Festival. Variety. 13 December 2017.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 8
- Farhat, Maymanah The Chicago Palestine Film Festival's Evening of Shorts
- Annemarie Jacir: For Cultural Purposes Only, Dreams of a Nation, 2002
- Annemarie Jacir: Coming Home: Palestinian Cinema, 27 February 2007, The Electronic Intifada
- Rebecca Kemp: Palestine On Film, Interviews with Palestinian Filmmakers, Fall 2006
- Annemarie Kattan Jacir: A Tale of Two Sisters: Witnessing an Undercover Israeli Operation in Ramallah (1), 15 November 2006, The Electronic Intifada
- Brentjes, Rana: The multiple layers of identity in Annemarie Jacir`s films, Deutscher Orientalistentag, 2003
- Annemarie Jacir: Letter from the editing room Paris, December 2007, This week in Palestine
- Annemarie Jacir: Another denial of entry for a film-maker..., May 1, 2008, Denied Entry
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