Mohammad Bakri in intensive care! Please send him your love and affection!!

ANTOINE RAFFOUL

April 2, 2010 Dear Friends and supporters: We received news that the great Palestinian filmmaker Mohammad Bakri was transferred to the Rambam hospital in Haifa last night, after he suffered a severe heart attack on 31 March 2010, and was admitted immediately to the emergency department at the Rambam Health Care Hospital in Haifal for immediate treatment, where his condition was described as serious but stable. He underwent intensive examination to ascertain his condition. It is understood that he suffered the stroke while being interviewed about his forthcoming work for the Palestine Satellite Channel for a regular program and a variety of workshops about the conditions inside the Green Line. He was also preparing to work on a documentary about the life of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. Mohammad Bakri, 57 years old, is one of our greatest Palestinian filmmakers. Born in the Palestinian village of Bi’ina in the Galilee in 1953, he went to elementary school in his hometown and received his secondary education in the nearby city of Acre. He studied acting and Arabic literature at Tel Aviv University in 1973 where he graduated two years later. Bakri began his professional acting career in plays in several theatres in Israel and the West Bank notably the Habima theatre in Tel-Aviv, the Haifa Theatre and Al-Kasaba Theatre in Ramallah. After a few years of acting in Palestinian and Israeli films, Bakri began to act in international film productions such as Costa-Gavras’ Kannah K, Private, and most recently in the Taviani Brother’s controversial film The Skylark's Farm (2007) about the Armenian Genocide. One of Bakri’s most daring documentary films is "Jenin, Jenin" about Israel’s destruction of the Palestinian camp in the West Bank in 2002. This was followed by "Since You Left" a tribute to his mentor Emile Habiby and a crucial account of the court case resulting from the screening of "Jenin Jenin". Almost all of Bakri’s films have been influenced by the Palestininan–Israeli conflict and remain an eloquent account of the internal struggle of the Palestinian people. Bakri began his solo performance of the great play "The Pessoptimist" in 1986. Since then, he had performed this play 1500 times in Arabic and Hebrew in USA, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Egypt, Morocco, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Tunis, Jordan and, of course, in Palestine and Israel. Against the backdrop of an illegal Israeli occupation of 4.5 million Palestinians, and at personal risk to himself and to his family, Bakri has been fighting alone, amongst all filmmakers, to encourage debate, free choice, and independent artistic creativity. As one of the greatest actors and filmmakers in Israel and Palestine today, Bakri represents the struggle of his people to attain freedom, justice and equality. In a rare tribute to this personal conviction, he was recently honoured with the Free Speech Award at the Berlinale 2010 through "Panorama" which showcases new films by established directors. Bakri deserves our unrelenting messages of support for a speedy recovery to enable him to get back behind his camera and to continue his struggle for Palestine. We urge all of you to send messages of support to Mohammad Bakri to the hospital where he is resting. Please email Mohammad Bakri via Mr David Ratner, Director of External Relations at the Hospital: - d_ratner@rambam.health.gov.il or write to: Mohammadd Bakri c/o Rambam Health Care Campus 6 Ha'Aliya Street POB 9602 Haifa 31096 Israel You can also write to Mohammad at his home address: Mohammad Bakri P.O.Box 24 Bi'ina Village 20189 Galilee, Israel Your wishes and your support are the cures he also needs. Antoine Raffoul Coordinator 1948: LEST WE FORGET www.1948.org.uk