Mustafa Abu Ali
Mustafa Abu Ali (1940 in Maliha, Mandatory Palestine – 30 July 2009 in Jerusalem) was a Palestinian filmmaker. Abu Ali studied at the University of California-Berkeley in the 1960s before studying cinema in London, graduating in 1967. He is considered one of the founders of Palestinian cinema, and the Palestinian Cinema Association in Beirut in 1973, (re-established in Ramallah in 2004).
Also recorded as Mustapha Abu Ali
Mustafa Abu Ali
- Birthplace
- Maliha, Mandatory Palestine
- Died
- 30 July 2009
- Place of death
- Jerusalem
- Occupation
- Filmmaker
- Born
- 1940 · Malha.
- Nationality
- Mandatory Palestine · Jordan · Palestine
- Education
- American University of Beirut · University of California and Berkeley
- Languages
- Arabic · English
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Mustafa Abu Ali (1940 in Maliha, Mandatory Palestine – 30 July 2009 in Jerusalem) was a Palestinian filmmaker. Abu Ali studied at the University of California-Berkeley in the 1960s before studying cinema in London, graduating in 1967. He is considered one of the founders of Palestinian cinema, and the Palestinian Cinema Association in Beirut in 1973, (re-established in Ramallah in 2004).
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wikidata · Q6943212 · wikipedia · Mustafa Abu Ali
In this article
Biography
Biography
Along with Sulafa Jadallah and Hani Jowharieh, he established the Palestine Film Unit (PFU)—which saw its primary task as "documenting the revolution and creating an archive of images of historical documents". After the PLO's move to Lebanon after the events of Black September, the PFU was renamed the Palestine Cinema Institute and became one of the seven departments of the PLO's Unified Media. Abu Ali headed the department from 1973 to 1975. Abu Ali wrote four screenplays and directed more than 30 films, for which he won more than 14 awards, the most recent from the 2003 Ismailia Film Festival.
Key facts
Key facts
• Native Name — مصطفى أبو علي • Birthplace — Maliha, Mandatory Palestine • Died — 30 July 2009 • Place of death — Jerusalem • Occupation — Filmmaker • Notable Works — No to a Peaceful Solution (1968) With Soul, With Blood (1971) They Do Not Exist (1974)
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Malha.
Birth place
Jerusalem.
Death place
Notable films
• 1968: No to a Peaceful Solution • 1971: With Soul, With Blood • 1973: Scenes from the occupation in Gaza (مشاهد من الاحتلال في غزة) • 1973: A Zionist Aggression • 1974: They Do Not Exist • 1977: Tall el zaatar (تل الزعتر), co-directed with Jean Khalil Chamoun and Pino Adriano • 1977: Palestine in the Eye
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.They Do Not Exist: Remembering Palestinian Filmmaker Mustafa Abu Ali. Muftah. 25 July 2013.
- 2.Modern art in the Arab world : primary documents. 2018. 978-1-63345-038-7.
- 3.Mustapha Abu Ali. Zoom Out.
- 4.Khaled Elayyan. A Brief History of Palestinian Cinema. This Week in Palestine. 117. January 2008.
- 5.Henri de Corinth. Knights of Cinema: The Story of the Palestine Film Unit. Senses of Cinema. August 2024.
- 6.Palestinian Cinema Archive. They Do Not Exist.
- 7.Sarah Wood. Lost picture show: the Palestinian Film Archive. The Guardian. 21 October 2009.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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