Dr. Ezzedine Shalah, the President of Jerusalem International Film Festival, announced that the festival’s administration dedicates the sixth session of the festival to the spirit of the late Palestinian writer and director Nasri Hajjaj, who passed away yesterday, aged 70. The festival’s administration had informed the late director “Hajjaj” on August 30, the decision to honor him in the sixth session, who expressed his happiness and hoped success to the festival.
Dr. Shalah stated that the festival will honor the late director Hajjaj at the opening of the sixth session in the Gaza City on 29/11/2021, which coincides with the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and a promo about his life and achievements will be presented in this session.
Dr. Shalah confirmed that the late writer and director Nasri Hajjaj considered that his participation in the Jerusalem International Film Festival is one of the most important participations in his life because it is held in Gaza, the most adorable place to him. It is also worth noting that Hajjaj participated in his film “The Bird” in the third session of the Jerusalem International Film Festival in 2018, and this film won the “Golden Olive Branch” Prize for Best Short Film.
The most prominent works of the late director “Nasri Hajjaj” are the film “the Shadow of Absence”, which deals with the theme of death and the exile for the Palestinian. Furthermore, the film “As the Poet Said”, which documented the life of the late Palestinian poet “Mahmoud Darwish”.
Dr. Shalah mentioned that the late director “Nasri Hajjaj” is a Palestinian writer and film director, who was born in Ain El-Hilweh camp in 1951. His father is a Palestinian refugee from Al-Naaeimah village, and his mother is Lebanese. Despite living outside Palestine, Hajjaj’s spirit is affiliated with it permanently. Hajjaj joined the Palestinian revolution and then completed his studies in Britain, but he had been expelled from it later.
Hajjaj wrote in British, Lebanese and Palestinian newspapers and directed several documentaries, which some documentaries won international prizes. Moreover, he published a collection of short stories in Ramallah, which were translated into English language.
