Michel Khleifi

Director ("Wedding in Galilee" and "Tale of Three Jewels")

Born in Nazareth in the north of Palestine, Michel Khleifi is perhaps the most well-known and acclaimed Palestinian film director in the world. He studied theatre at INSAS in Brussels, where he had emigrated in 1971. He has directed and produced several documentary and feature films, and has received several prestigious awards, including the International Critics’ Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Golden Shell at San Sebastian in 1987 for his film Wedding in Galilee. In addition to the two titles included in this year’s festival, Khleifi’s films include: Fertile Memory (1980); Maaloul Celebrates Its Destruction (1985); Canticle of the Stones (1990); L’Ordre du Jour (1992); Forbidden Marriages in the Holy Land (1995); and (with Israeli director Eyal Sivan) last year’s festival favourite Route 181: Fragments of a Journey to Palestine-Israel (2004).

Michel Khleifi's films are available through the following websites and distributors, for both home use, as well as festival and theatre bookings:

Sindibad Films: http://www.sindibad.co.uk

Kino Distribution: www.kino.com

Arab Film Distribution: www.arabfilm.com

Momento Productions: http://www.momento-production.com