Dima Hamdan

Dima Hamdan
ديما حمدان
Born1975 (1975) (age 50)
Kuwait
Other namesDima Abu Hamdan
OccupationsFilm maker, Journalist
Years active1997–present

Dima Hamdan (Arabic: ديما حمدان; born 1975) is a Palestinian-Jordanian-British filmmaker and journalist based in Berlin. Her short film Blood Like Water (2023) won the 2024 Iris Prize.

Early life

Hamdan was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. Her grandfather was displaced from Umm Khaled during the Nakba, while her mother was "driven out at gunpoint" from Tulkarem during the Naksa in 1967. Amid Gulf War, Hamdan moved with her family to Jordan.[1] Hamdan studied Law at Jordanian university.[2][3] In an interview by Shoot’n’Post, Hamdan mentioned that she always dreamt of becoming a film director since she was 12 or 13, but at the time there was not a prospect of her going to film school as her family expected her to become a lawyer. At university, she studied law, but never practiced it. She eventually found herself getting into journalism because she thought it would be a good opportunity to meet film directors and actors.[4]

Career

Journalism

Hamdan began her journalism career in 1997 working as a parliamentary cultural correspondent for The Jordan Times. During this she met directors and actors, which reinforced her early interest in filmmaking.[5] She also contributed to Al-Hayat and the Middle East Times. In 2002, Hamdan joined the London office of BBC Arabic and BBC World Service.[6] Hamdan reported from cities like Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Beirut.[7] She worked for the network until 2014 as a reporter and producer. Hamdan noted that she valued being out on the street, collecting stories, and talking to people. She was influenced during her time as a journalist, making it her goal to tell stories not just with reporting, but through filmmaking. Much of her inspiration came from the experiences she heard from others. Hamdan would compare and connect them to her parents’ experiences with exile and war, influencing her desire to make films. While still working as a journalist, Hamdan began writing her own scripts and she got her first opportunity in 2009 by RAWI Sundance screenwriter’s lab in Jordan. She has since made five or six short films, all self-financed and self-produced. Hamdan stated that even though she didn’t attend film school, films up to this point have been her primary education.[8]

Hamdan stopped being a journalist in 2014.[9] As of 2017, Hamdan is founding editor and manager of the Marie Colvin Journalists' Network (MCJN), a collective of women journalists in the Arab World.[10][11] As a freelancer, Hamdan has contributed to publications including The New Arab, The Markaz Review and The Badger Herald.[12] She notes how her background in journalism continues to shape her. She prioritizes fact-checking, while developing narrative detail.[13]

Filmmaking

Hamdan's debut short film Gaza – London, based on a true story of a Palestinian student in London who faces being away from his family during Operation Cast Lead,[14][15] won Best Arab Film at the 2009 Jordan Short Film Festival.[16] That same year, her project My Name is Ali was selected for the Sundance Institute's RAWI Middle East Screenwriters Lab.[17] This project was about two strangers whose lives intersect in Casablanca and discover they are linked and must delve back into to their past demons.[18] In 2010, Hamdan received the Abu Dhabi Film Commission's Shasha grant to develop a project titled The Kidnap,[19] which was selected for the Hothouse workshop at the London Film School.[20] This project was about a Jordanian policeman and how he goes on a hunt to find his kidnapped wife who’s due to give birth, but there’s a dark secret that this search leads him to.[21]

The next short film of Hamdan's to do a festival circuit was The Bomb (Die Bombe),[22] which was a runner-up for the Human Rights Short award at the 2019 Naples Human Rights Film Festival.[23] In an Interview with Shoot N’ Post, Hamdan mentions how this film was shot under difficult circumstances with an incredibly dedicated team. She credits director of photography Frank Schwaiger, and line producer Olivia Stubbe.[24]

Shot on location in the West Bank in 2023, Hamdan gained prominence through her next short film Blood Like Water, which follows a young gay man in the West Bank who faces blackmail from the IDF.[25] Hamdan described the film as "fictional" but "based on real information".[26] Blood Like Water premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh, screened at the 2023 Brooklyn Film Festival, where it was awarded Best Narrative Short,[27] and won the 2024 Iris Prize.[28] In her acceptance speech for the latter, Hamdan condemned Israel's pinkwashing.[29]

Dima Hamdan is developing her debut feature film Amnesia, produced by Tony Copti. Amnesia received an Atlas Development Prize at the 2023 Marrakech International Film Festival.[30]

Personal life

In 2009, Hamdan became a British citizen.[31] She also holds Jordanian citizenship.[14] She relocated to Berlin circa 2016 "to explore a different city".[1]

Filmography

  • Gaza – London (2009, short, 15 minutes[32])
  • The Bomb (2019, short, 21 minutes[33])
  • Blood Like Water (2023, short, 13 minutes[34])
  • Amnesia (TBA)

Awards & Nominations

  • Brooklyn Film Festival, 2024 Winner, Best Short Narrative, Blood Like Water[35]
  • Melbourne International Film Festival, 2024 Nominee, City of Melbourne Award, Best Short Film, Blood Like Water[36]
  • Iris Prize Festival, 2024 Winner, Iris Prize, Blood Like Water[37]
  • Ayodhya Film Festival, 2019 Winner, Jury Prize, Best Women Director, The Bomb[38]
  • Runner-up for the Human Rights Short award, 2019 Naples Human Rights Film Festival, The Bomb[39]
  • Jordan Film Festival 2009, Best Arab Short prize winner, Gaza-London[40]

References

  1. ^ a b Kruglyak, Maria (9 May 2025). "Other Forms of Sacrifice: Dima Hamdan on "Blood Like Water"". Mubi. Archived from the original on 26 May 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.(subscription required)
  2. ^ "Filmmakers at Shoot'n'Post & Tonbüro: Dima Hamdan". Tonbüro. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Dima Hamdan". London Film School. 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  4. ^ Dima (15 April 2019). "Tonbüro". Tonbüro. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  5. ^ Dima (15 April 2019). "Tonbüro". Tonbüro. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  6. ^ "World Stories: Contributors". BBC World Service. Archived from the original on 23 November 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  7. ^ Dima (15 April 2019). "Tonbüro". Tonbüro. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  8. ^ Dima (15 April 2019). "Tonbüro". Tonbüro. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  9. ^ Dima (15 April 2019). "Tonbüro". Tonbüro. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  10. ^ Kilman, Larry (24 February 2017). "Non-profits Thrive by Word of Mouth. They Need More Mouths". American Graduate School of Paris. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  11. ^ "AMEJA's Mentorship Committee Meets with MCJN's Dima Hamdan". AMEJA. 18 August 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  12. ^ "Articles by Dima Hamdan". MuckRack. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  13. ^ Dima (15 April 2019). "Tonbüro". Tonbüro. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Una directora palestina lamenta la insensibilidad social hacia las guerras". El Corrego Gallego (in Spanish). 27 October 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  15. ^ Kheetan, Thameen (25 January 2010). "Campaign seeks to provide Western media with 'Palestinian perspective'". Ammon. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  16. ^ W. Wolf, Reinhard (16 December 2009). "2009 Awards". Shortfilm.de. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
  17. ^ "Sundance Institute Announces 7 Projects For The 2009 Rawi Middle East Screenwriters Lab In Jordan". Sundance. 1 October 2009. Archived from the original on 24 March 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2005.
  18. ^ Ward, Ben (October 2009). "Sundance Institute Announces 7 Projects for the 2009 Rawi Middle East Screenwriters Lab in Jordan". Sundance.org. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  19. ^ Shackleton, Liz (17 November 2010). "Hamdan, Kharsa split Shasha grant at close of Circle Conference". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 20 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  20. ^ "Dima Hamdan". London Film School. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  21. ^ "Dima Hamdan". London Film School. 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  22. ^ "The Bomb". MAD Distribution. Archived from the original on 23 April 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  23. ^ "XI Festival – I film vincitori". Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napoli. 1 December 2019. Archived from the original on 3 October 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  24. ^ Dima (15 April 2019). "Tonbüro". Tonbüro. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  25. ^ Saeed, Nazeeha (12 December 2024). "Palestinian director Dima Hamdan: "There is no pride when gay men are blackmailed"". Qantara. Archived from the original on 21 April 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  26. ^ Lecumberri, Beatriz (23 November 2024). "'Seeing an Israeli soldier with the LGBTQ flag on top of the ruins of Gaza is offensive to every gay person in the world'". El Païs. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  27. ^ "Blood Like Water by Dima Hamdan". Brooklyn Film Festival. Archived from the original on 16 June 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  28. ^ Horton, Nick (12 October 2024). "Iris Prize 2024: Palestinian Dima Hamdan wins LGBTQ+ film award". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 November 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  29. ^ "Dima Hamdan wins Iris Prize; speaks on Israeli pinkwashing in speech". The New Arab. 15 October 2024. Archived from the original on 5 November 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  30. ^ Roth, E. Nina (1 December 2023). "Tunisia's 'Motherhood', Palestine's 'Amnesia' grab top prizes at Marrakech's Atlas Workshops". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 14 February 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  31. ^ Rahwanji, Maha (2010). "Al Ghurba: A photographic exhibition by Inzajeano Latif" (PDF). Palestine News. p. 28. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 July 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  32. ^ "Gaza–London". IMDb. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  33. ^ "The Bomb". MAD Distribution. 22 November 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  34. ^ "Securly - Geolocation Sharing". IMDb. 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  35. ^ "Dima Hamdan – Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  36. ^ "Dima Hamdan – Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  37. ^ "Dima Hamdan – Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  38. ^ "Dima Hamdan – Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  39. ^ "XI Festival – I film vincitori". Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napoli. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  40. ^ "Dima Hamdan". London Film School. 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.