Kamel El Basha

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Kamel El Basha
Born
Malha, Palestine,
Occupation(s)Actor, theatre director
Years active1987–present
AwardsVolpi Cup for Best Actor 2017
Websitekamelelbasha.com

Kamel El Basha or Kamel el-Basha (Arabic: كامل الباشا) (born c. 1962) is a Palestinian actor, theatre director, teacher, and translator.

Early life[edit]

Kamel El Basha was born around 1962[1] in Malha,[2] then a thriving village in Palestine known as al-Maliha, now a suburb in south-western Jerusalem, Israel.[3][4] He recalls being five years old and running from his home with his family during the 1967 war, when Israel battled Syrian, Jordanian, and Egyptian armies, afterwards claiming a large amount of territory.[1]

As a child, when there was no television, he would perform for other children in the neighbourhood in his home.[1]

El Basha studied theatre from 1979 to 1983. As a young man, he was imprisoned by the Israeli authorities for two years owing to his activism on behalf of the Palestinian people.[2]

He studied theatre in Baghdad, Iraq, at some point.[1]

Career[edit]

El Basha has acted in, directed, and also written and translated plays for the stage.[2]

He began his career as a stage actor after his release from prison, making a notable debut in the Arabic version of Brecht's The Exception and the Rule.[2]

He has appeared in several Palestinian TV series and films, including Palestinian director Muayad Alayan's 2015 film Love, Theft and Other Entanglements,[2] as well as his 2018 award-winning film about an affair between a married Israeli woman and a married Palestinian man, The Reports on Sarah and Saleem.[5] [6]

El Basha came to international attention for his role as Palestinian refugee Yasser Abdallah Salameh in the 2017 film The Insult by the Lebanese film director Ziad Doueiri.[7][2] The film won several awards,[8][9] and El Kamal won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance.[7]

He starred in the 2023 short films An Orange in Jaffa and Palestinian Islands.[10] Also in 2023, he played safecracker Youssef Mizouni in the eight-part British heist television series Culprits.[11]

He plays a major role in the 2024 Australian TV series House of Gods as Sheikh Mohammad, airing on ABC TV aind ABC iview. The series has been selected to be screened in the French competition Series Mania, while El Basha was awarded with the Best Actor prize.[12][1] This is an international competition dedicated to television series held in Lille since 2018.[13] Sheikh Mohammad is an Iraqi imam, and the series focuses on relationships with his family, and among the Iraqi expatriate community living in Australia.[1] Most of the other actors are Australian, including co-creator and co-star Osamah Sami, and Iraqi-born Maia Abbas. The series was filmed in western Sydney.[14]

Other activities[edit]

El Basha was artistic director of the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem from 2007 to 2011, and the artistic director of Quds Art from 2012.[15]

Awards[edit]

2017: Volpi Cup for Best Actor in the 74th Venice International Film Festival ,for The Insult[7][16][2]

Personal life[edit]

El Basha is Muslim, while his wife is a Palestinian Christian woman. As of March 2024 they live in East Jerusalem.[1]

He sees his acting talent as a "gift from God".[1]

Filmography[edit]

As actor[edit]

Others[edit]

  • 2014: Al Helm: Martin Luther King in Palestine (documentary), writer and director
  • 2016 : Defying my disability (documentary), executive producer

Selected theatre credits[edit]

Directing[edit]

  • Suquut al Qastal (سقوط القسطل)
  • Ness Kiis Rasas (نص كيس رصاص)
  • Al Qamees al Masruq (القميص المسروق)
  • Madeenat al Sa'aada (مدينة السعادة)
  • Ward wa Yasmeen (ورد وياسمين)
  • Al Arees (العريس)
  • Sahra Maqdisiyyah (سهرة مقدسية)

Acting[edit]

  • Al Qamees al Masruq (القميص المسروق)
  • Al Aydi al Qazira (الأيدي القذرة)
  • Al Zeer Salem (الزير سالم)
  • Mawta bila Qubuur (موتى بلا قبور)
  • Hajar al Tahqeeq (حجر التحقيق)

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Taylor, Catherine (2 March 2024). "House of Gods' Kamel El Basha believes in the power of stories to bring people together". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 2 March 2024. My first memories are of the '67 war,... I was five years old and I remember running from our house with the whole family.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Kamel El Basha". El Gouna Film Festival. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Manahat – Malha". Israel and You. 10 October 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  4. ^ Shams, Alex (16 May 2014). "Retracing the Nakba in West Jerusalem's al-Malha". Alex Shams. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  5. ^ "The Reports on Sarah and Saleem". IFFR. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  6. ^ Weissberg, Jay (6 February 2018). "Rotterdam Film Review: 'The Reports on Sarah and Saleem'". Variety. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Kamel El Basha Wins Big at the Venice Film Festival". Vogue Arabia. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  8. ^ Kay, Jeremy. "'The Insult', 'What Will People Say' among AFI FEST winners". Screen Daily. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  9. ^ Saperstein, Pat (14 January 2018). "'Félicité,' 'The Charmer' Among Palm Springs Film Festival Winners". Variety. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Kamel El Basha". Unifrance. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  11. ^ Robinson, Abby (8 November 2023). "Meet the characters in Disney Plus thriller". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  12. ^ Lemercier, Fabien (25 March 2024). "French series Rematch triumphs at Series Mania". Cineuropa. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  13. ^ "about". Festival Séries Mania. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  14. ^ Slatter, Sean (10 March 2023). "Kamel El Basha and Maia Abbas join Osamah Sami in Matchbox Pictures' 'House of Gods'". IF Magazine. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Biography". Kamel El Basha. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Palestinian wins best actor award at Venice film fest". Retrieved 1 December 2017.

External links[edit]

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