Omar al-Qattan

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Omar al-Qattan (

Al-Qattan began his filming career by directing 15 to 20-minute documentaries and dramas while at film school.^[citation needed]

His first full-length film, Dreams & Silence, was a documentary released in 1991. The film portrayed a Palestinian woman refugee in

In 2000 and 2001 Al-Qattan also co-directed Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, a two-hour documentary on Muhammad's life and his legacy with Muslims in the United States. Produced by Unity Productions Foundation, it was aired on American television by PBS on December 22, 2002. The film was criticized by some right-wing journalists as "too soft on the topic", but it won acclaim by the US public.^[1]

During this period, Al-Qattan began to give increasing attention to the A. M. Qattan Foundation, an independent institution established by his parents to support cultural and educational development in Palestine and the Arab World, launching its principal activities and establishing its operations in the Occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip through three major tracks: the Qattan Centre for Educational Research & Development which supports school teachers to develop and improve their professional skills and knowledge; the Qattan Centre for the Child in Gaza City, a cultural centre for children under the age of 15 including a major library, theatre, IT lab and other facilities, including a mobile outreach programme; and the Culture & Arts Programme, a diverse funding mechanism for the arts, particularly among young people which is today one of the largest independently funded programmes of its kind in the region, working across the disciplines, including film and television, including the Palestinian Audio-visual Project and the Gaza Music School. In late 2008, the Programme also opened The Mosaic Rooms, a gallery and small cultural space in London focused on Arab culture which Al-Qattan continues to curate. The Foundation is today considered a pioneer and leader in its fields, both regionally and internationally.^{[citation needed]}

Returning to cinema in 2008, Al-Qattan produced Khleifi's ZINDEEQ, winner of the best feature at the 2009 Dubai International Film Festival.^{[citation needed]}

Al-Qattan is also a published writer and commentator and, since 2012 chair of the Palestinian Museum steering committee of the Association and of Shubbak 2013, the festival of contemporary Arab culture in London. Since 2005, he has also been deputy chair of Al-Hani Construction and Trading in Kuwait, the family firm established by his father in 1964.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

• Je suis...tu es?, (1987), 16', director
• La Danse (1988), 19', director
• Conte de l'Aveugle et du Paralytique (1989), 18', director
• Cantique des Pierres (1990–91), dir: Michel Khleifi, 100', assistant
• L'Ordre du Jour (1992), dir: Michel Khleifi, co-producer
• Tale of the Three Jewels (1994–95), dir Michel Khleifi, executive producer
• Forbidden Marriages in the Holy Land (1995), dir Michel Khleifi, executive producer
• Going Home (1996), director and producer
• Jerusalem (1998), director and producer
• Homesick (1999), screenwriter
• 500 Dunam on the Moon, dir: Rachel Leah Jones, co-producer
• Amal, My Star (2000), producer
• Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet (2000–02), co-director with Michael Schwarz
• Midwest/ Midwest Field (2002), producer
• Diary of an Art Competition (Under Occupation) (2002), director, producer and cameraman
• Route 181- Fragments of a Journey to Palestine and Israel (2003–04),^[1] dir by Michel Khleifi and Eyal Sivan, co-producer

References