Hany Abu-Assad: Executive Producer
After having studied and worked as an airplane engineer in The Netherlands for several years, Hany Abu-Assad entered the world of cinema and television as a producer. He worked on television programms about foreign immigrants and documentaries like "Dar O Dar" for Channel 4 and "Long Days in Gaza" for the BBC. In 1992, Abu-Assad wrote and directed his first short film, "Paper House", which was broadcasted by NOS Dutch television and won several international awards at film festivals. One year later, Abu-Assad produced the feature film "Curfew," directed by Rashid Masharawi. "Curfew" was highly praised, winning awards including the Gold Pyramid in Cairo, and the UNESCO Prize in Cannes, among others. After his second short "The 13th," which he wrote, produced and directed, Abu-Assad began his first full-length feature project as a director. He teamed up with writer Arnon Grunberg to develop a script that challenged and explored cinematic narrative and style in a comedy about a couple in Amsterdam. The film, "The Fourteenth Chick" was the opening film of the Dutch Film Festival in Utrecht 1998 and was distributed by United International Pictures.
Recent works include the bittersweet documentary "Nazareth 2000," which Abu-Assad made for Dutch VPRO television. Since Augustus Film was founded by Abu-Assad and Bero Beyer in 2000, Abu-Assad has directed "Rana's Wedding" (2002), a production realized with the support of the Palestinian Film Foundation of the Ministry of Culture of the Palestinian National Authority. The film was selected for Critics Week 2002 in Cannes and went on to win prizes at Montpellier, Marrakech, Bastia and Cologne. Abu-Assad's latest documentary, "Ford Transit" (2002) played at the Sundance Film Festival. The film won the FIPRESCI award during the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the In the Spirit of Freedom Award in Jerusalem and together with "Rana's Wedding," the Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking at the Human Rights Film Festival in New York. Abu-Assad and Beyer wrote "Paradise Now" in 1999 and shot the film in Nablus in 2004. It made its World Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival 2005, where it won the Blue Angel Award for Best European Film, the Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Prize and the Amnesty International Award for Best Film. It went on to get nominated for the Best Foreign Oscar, the first Palestinian film to ever be nominated. He is currently in post-production on his latest film "THE COURIER".
After having studied and worked as an airplane engineer in The Netherlands for several years, Hany Abu-Assad entered the world of cinema and television as a producer. He worked on television programms about foreign immigrants and documentaries like "Dar O Dar" for Channel 4 and "Long Days in Gaza" for the BBC. In 1992, Abu-Assad wrote and directed his first short film, "Paper House", which was broadcasted by NOS Dutch television and won several international awards at film festivals. One year later, Abu-Assad produced the feature film "Curfew," directed by Rashid Masharawi. "Curfew" was highly praised, winning awards including the Gold Pyramid in Cairo, and the UNESCO Prize in Cannes, among others. After his second short "The 13th," which he wrote, produced and directed, Abu-Assad began his first full-length feature project as a director. He teamed up with writer Arnon Grunberg to develop a script that challenged and explored cinematic narrative and style in a comedy about a couple in Amsterdam. The film, "The Fourteenth Chick" was the opening film of the Dutch Film Festival in Utrecht 1998 and was distributed by United International Pictures.
Recent works include the bittersweet documentary "Nazareth 2000," which Abu-Assad made for Dutch VPRO television. Since Augustus Film was founded by Abu-Assad and Bero Beyer in 2000, Abu-Assad has directed "Rana's Wedding" (2002), a production realized with the support of the Palestinian Film Foundation of the Ministry of Culture of the Palestinian National Authority. The film was selected for Critics Week 2002 in Cannes and went on to win prizes at Montpellier, Marrakech, Bastia and Cologne. Abu-Assad's latest documentary, "Ford Transit" (2002) played at the Sundance Film Festival. The film won the FIPRESCI award during the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the In the Spirit of Freedom Award in Jerusalem and together with "Rana's Wedding," the Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking at the Human Rights Film Festival in New York. Abu-Assad and Beyer wrote "Paradise Now" in 1999 and shot the film in Nablus in 2004. It made its World Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival 2005, where it won the Blue Angel Award for Best European Film, the Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Prize and the Amnesty International Award for Best Film. It went on to get nominated for the Best Foreign Oscar, the first Palestinian film to ever be nominated. He is currently in post-production on his latest film "THE COURIER".
