Mohammad Bakri, the renowned actor and filmmaker who sought to share the complexities of Palestinian identity and culture through a variety of works in Arabic and Hebrew, died on Wednesday. He was 72.
Bakri was best known for directing Jenin, Jenin, a 2003 documentary about an Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank city the previous year during the second Palestinian intifada. The film, focusing on the wide destruction and heartbreak of the city’s Palestinian people, was banned by Israel.
Bakri also acted in the 2025 film All That’s Left of You, a drama about a Palestinian family through more than 76 years, alongside his sons, Adam and Saleh Bakri, both actors as well. The film has been shortlisted by the Academy Awards for the best international feature film.
Over the years, Bakri made several films that spanned the spectrum of Palestinian experiences. He also acted in Hebrew, including at the Israeli national theatre in Tel Aviv, and appeared in a number of Israeli movies in the 1980s and 1990s. He studied at Tel Aviv University.
Bakri, who was born in northern Israel and held Israeli citizenship, dabbled in both film and theatre. His best-known one-man-show from 1986, The Pessoptimist, based on the writings of Palestinian author Emile Habiby, focused on the intricacies and emotions of someone who had both Israeli and Palestinian identities.
During the 1980s, Bakri played characters in mainstream Israeli films that humanised the Palestinian identity, including Beyond the Walls, a seminal film about incarcerated Israelis and Palestinians, said Raya Morag, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem specialising in cinema and trauma.
“He broke stereotypes about how Israelis looked at Palestinians, allowing someone Palestinian to be regarded as a hero in Israeli society. He was a very brave person, and he was brave by standing to his ideals, choosing not to be conformist in any way, and paying the price in both societies.”
Bakri faced some pushback within Palestinian society for his cooperation with the Israelis. After Jenin, Jenin, he was plagued by almost two decades of court cases in Israel, where the film was seen as unbalanced and inciting.
In 2022, Israel's Supreme Court upheld a ban on the documentary, saying it defamed Israeli soldiers and ordered Bakri to pay tens of thousands of dollars in damages to an Israeli military officer for defamation.
Jenin, Jenin was a turning point in Bakri’s career. In Israel, he became a polarising figure and he never worked with mainstream Israeli cinema again, Morag said. “He was loyal to himself despite all the pressures from inside and outside,” she added. “He was a firm voice that did not change during the years.”
Local media quoted Bakri's family as saying he died on Wednesday after suffering from heart and lung problems. His cousin, Rafic, told the Arabic news site Al-Jarmaq that Bakri was a tenacious advocate of the Palestinians who used his works to express support for his people.
“I am certain that Abu Saleh will remain in the memory of Palestinian people everywhere and all people of the free world,” he said, using Bakri's nickname.
