By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Mohammed Bakri, the Palestinian actor and filmmaker best known for Jenin, Jenin and decades of work centering Palestinian experience, has died at the age of 72 following heart and lung complications.

Palestinian actor and filmmaker Mohammed Bakri died on Wednesday at the age of 72, his family confirmed. A spokesperson for the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya said Bakri died after complications related to heart and lung disease.

Born on November 27, 1953, in the Galilee village of Bi’ina, Bakri was one of the most prominent figures in Palestinian cinema and theatre. Over a career spanning five decades, he appeared in more than 40 films and directed several documentaries that focused on the lived experiences of Palestinians, particularly those under occupation and military rule.

Bakri studied acting and Arabic literature at Tel Aviv University in the 1970s and went on to perform on major stages, including Habima Theatre, Haifa Theatre, and Al-Kasaba Theatre in Ramallah. He gained early critical recognition for his role as a Palestinian prisoner in the 1980 film Beyond the Walls, which brought him international attention.

He later collaborated with filmmakers from beyond Palestine and Israel, including French-Greek director Costa-Gavras and Italian filmmakers Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani, while continuing to take on roles that centered on Palestinian social and political realities.

Today, the great Palestinian filmmaker and actor Muhammad Bakri passed away.

He never kept his head above politics, nor did he teach his children, or anyone, to be satisfied with being accustomed.

Quite the opposite.

May his memory be a revolution. pic.twitter.com/sWxLCaLcOq

— Mauricio Lapchik (@MauricioLapchik) December 24, 2025

Bakri became internationally known as a director following the release of his 2002 documentary Jenin, Jenin, which compiled testimonies from residents of the Jenin refugee camp after an Israeli military assault during the Second Intifada. The film won Best Documentary at the Carthage Film Festival but also triggered years of legal action and censorship in Israel.

Five Israeli soldiers filed defamation lawsuits against Bakri, and although early court rulings rejected their claims, legal pressure continued. In 2021, an Israeli court ordered the film banned, seized all copies, removed online links, and imposed heavy financial penalties on Bakri. The Israeli Supreme Court upheld the ban in 2022, ruling the film defamatory.

Bakri maintained that the documentary did not seek to establish legal findings but to preserve Palestinian testimony and memory. The case effectively excluded him from funding opportunities and major cultural platforms inside Israel for years.

Despite these constraints, Bakri continued working, often relying on personal resources and family support. Together with his wife, Leila, he raised six children, several of whom became actors, including Saleh Bakri, Ziad Bakri, and Adam Bakri.

Palestinian actor and director Mohammad Bakri has died aged 72. He was known for his role in the award-winning film Beyond the Walls, and for directing the documentary Jenin, Jenin, which was banned from screening in Israel and led to a court-ordered compensation in a defamation… pic.twitter.com/APPraY9PHf

— TRT World (@trtworld) December 24, 2025

In addition to ‘Jenin, Jenin’, Bakri directed documentaries including 1948, Since You’ve Been Gone and Zahra. As an actor, he appeared in films such as Haifa, Private, Wajib, The Tyrant, American Assassin and All That’s Left of You, collaborating with directors across Palestine, Europe and North America.

In recent years, Bakri continued to speak publicly about the relationship between art and political reality. In a 2024 interview with The New Arab, he described creative work as inseparable from the conditions in which Palestinians live.

Bakri received numerous awards throughout his career, including the Palestine National Appreciation Award in 2023, as well as international honors for both acting and documentary filmmaking.

(PC, Arab Media)