Hany Abu-Assad

Hany Abu-Assad is a Palestinian-Dutch film director from Nazareth who moved to the Netherlands; he is known for films including Paradise Now, Omar and The Idol.

Paradise Now (2005) won the Blue Angel Award for Best European Film at the Berlin International Film Festival. Omar (2013) received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

The reviews present Paradise Now as a quasi-documentary, hard-hitting depiction of two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack, praised for performances and its dry, sober style. The work is called necessary and bitter; the reviewer notes festival recognition. The tone is analytical and unsparing.

For:Viewers interested in political and art-house cinema, Middle East-focused film scholars, festival audiences.