Michel Khleifi

Michel Khleifi (Arabic: ميشيل خليفي‎}, born in 1950 in Nazareth, is a Palestinian film writer, director and producer, presently based in Belgium. Khleifi emigrated to Belgium in 1970, where he studied television and theatre directing at the Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle (INSAS). After graduating from INSAS, he worked in Belgium television before turning to making his own films. He has directed and produced several documentary and feature films. He has received several awards, including the International Critics’ Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Shell at San Sebastián International Film Festival and the André Cavens Award in 1987 for his film Wedding in Galilee. Khleifi currently teaches at INSAS

Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel (2004)

Route 181 is the epic record of a road trip undertaken in the summer of 2002 by two filmmakers, one Palestinian and one Israeli, along sections of what had been designated as the border between Israel and Palestine by U.N. Resolution 181 in 1947.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi  •  Eyal Sivan
CAST:  Michel Khleifi  •  Eyal Sivan

Route 181 is the epic record of a road trip undertaken in the summer of 2002 by two filmmakers, one Palestinian and one Israeli, along sections of what had been designated as the border between Israel and Palestine by U.N. Resolution 181 in 1947.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi  •  Eyal Sivan
CAST:  Michel Khleifi  •  Eyal Sivan

Canticle of Stones (1990)

Two Palestinian lovers, parted during the 60s when he is imprisoned for resisting the Israeli occupation and she sorrowfully emigrates to the US, come together again in Jerusalem some 18 years later. He works for an agricultural aid organization, she is a scholar ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Bushra Karaman  •  Makram J. Khoury

Two Palestinian lovers, parted during the 60s when he is imprisoned for resisting the Israeli occupation and she sorrowfully emigrates to the US, come together again in Jerusalem some 18 years later. He works for an agricultural aid organization, she is a scholar ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Bushra Karaman  •  Makram J. Khoury

Wedding in Galilee (1987)

A Palestinian seeks Israeli permission to waive curfew to give his son a fine wedding. The military governor's condition is that he and his officers attend. The groom berates his father for agreeing. Women ritually prepare the bride; men prepare the groom. Guests ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Mohamad Ali El Akili  •  Bushra Karaman  •  Makram J. Khoury  •  Yussuf Abu-Warda

A Palestinian seeks Israeli permission to waive curfew to give his son a fine wedding. The military governor's condition is that he and his officers attend. The groom berates his father for agreeing. Women ritually prepare the bride; men prepare the groom. Guests ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Mohamad Ali El Akili  •  Bushra Karaman  •  Makram J. Khoury  •  Yussuf Abu-Warda

Zindeeq (2009)

Acclaimed director Michel Khleifi's story of a Palestinian film-maker 'M' living in Europe, who returns home to Ramallah to film witness accounts of the 1948 Nakba - not only explores the events of that tumultuous era, but places them in context with the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Mira Awad  •  Mohammad Bakri

Acclaimed director Michel Khleifi's story of a Palestinian film-maker 'M' living in Europe, who returns home to Ramallah to film witness accounts of the 1948 Nakba - not only explores the events of that tumultuous era, but places them in context with the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Mira Awad  •  Mohammad Bakri

Ma'loul Celebrates Its Destruction (1985)

Since the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948, countless Palestinian villages have been erased from the map. This film uses poignant images of bombardments, destroyed buildings, and disfigured people to illustrate this. All that remains are ruins, bearing ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST: 

Since the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948, countless Palestinian villages have been erased from the map. This film uses poignant images of bombardments, destroyed buildings, and disfigured people to illustrate this. All that remains are ruins, bearing ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST: 

Song of the Stones (1988)

Directed by Michel Khlefi.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST: 

Directed by Michel Khlefi.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST: 

L'ordre du jour (1993)

Martin raises alone his son Jonas. Road works Ministry, which employs him, is upset by fighting for power between the Director and Gosselin his assistant.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Robin Renucci  •  Michael Lonsdale  •  Marianne Basler

Martin raises alone his son Jonas. Road works Ministry, which employs him, is upset by fighting for power between the Director and Gosselin his assistant.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Robin Renucci  •  Michael Lonsdale  •  Marianne Basler

Forbidden Marriages in the Holy Land (1995)

Directed by Michel Khleifi.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST: 

Directed by Michel Khleifi.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST: 

Fertile Memory (1980)

The first full length film to be shot within the disputed Palestinian West Bank "Green Line," FERTILE MEMORY is the feature debut of Michel Khleifi, acclaimed director of the Cannes Film Festival triumph, WEDDING IN GALILEE. Lyrically blending both documentary and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Farah Hatoum  •  Sahar Khalifeh

The first full length film to be shot within the disputed Palestinian West Bank "Green Line," FERTILE MEMORY is the feature debut of Michel Khleifi, acclaimed director of the Cannes Film Festival triumph, WEDDING IN GALILEE. Lyrically blending both documentary and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Farah Hatoum  •  Sahar Khalifeh

Trio (1987)

Trio is a cinematic series of filmed portraits that shows, in a single large, fixed and silent shot of 3 minutes and 20 seconds, three people free to do what they want.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Patrick Amine  •  Yasmine Khlat  •  Caroline Benjo  •  Christian-Marc Bosséno

Trio is a cinematic series of filmed portraits that shows, in a single large, fixed and silent shot of 3 minutes and 20 seconds, three people free to do what they want.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Patrick Amine  •  Yasmine Khlat  •  Caroline Benjo  •  Christian-Marc Bosséno

Tale of the Three Jewels (1995)

A Palestinian boy becomes entranced with a beautiful Gypsy girl and a fairy tale world she weaves amidst conflict in Gaza. The children explore nature, mysticism and what their future holds, while learning to live with the surrounding brutality c. 1990. Yusef's ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Mohammed Nahnal  •  Hana' Nc'mch  •  Bushra Karaman

A Palestinian boy becomes entranced with a beautiful Gypsy girl and a fairy tale world she weaves amidst conflict in Gaza. The children explore nature, mysticism and what their future holds, while learning to live with the surrounding brutality c. 1990. Yusef's ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michel Khleifi
CAST:  Mohammed Nahnal  •  Hana' Nc'mch  •  Bushra Karaman