Rashid Masharawi

Rashid Masharawi is a self-taught filmmaker born and raised in Shati refugee camp, Gaza Strip. He is one of the first Palestinian directors who had filmed in Palestine. All his films since his first feature Curfew (1990) and then Haifa (1996) which was the first Palestinian movie officially selected in Cannes, receive regular international selections, awards and broadcasting. Maharawi’s films reflect with irony the daily Palestinian life and are studied in many universities. In 1996, he founded the Cinema Production and Distribution Center (Ramallah) to develop a Palestinian cinematographic reflection (workshop, professional training, kids festival and mobile cinema). Many Palestinian filmmakers who have an international career, have attended this institution. Masharawi still pursues this goal by training new generations of directors and never stops to create, even during Corona’s lockdowns when he filmed his neighbours in “Diary of Gabrielle Street”. He is currently developing his new feature film “Passing Dreams”, a road movie searching for a missing bird all over Palestinian cities.