Julia Bacha
Julia Bacha at the 72nd Annual Peabody Awards
Julia Bacha at the 72nd Annual Peabody Awards
Born1980 (age 42–43)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
OccupationDirector, Producer, Writer
NationalityBrazilian
GenreDocumentary
Notable worksBudrus, Encounter Point, Control Room
SpouseLucas Welch
Website
justvision.org/staff/julia-bacha

Julia Bacha (born 1980) is a Brazilian documentary filmmaker. She has filmed under-documented stories from the Middle East including issues related to Palestine. Her 2021 film, Boycott, explores anti-boycott legislation and related freedom of speech issues.

Background

Bacha was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[1] When she was 17 she moved to the US to study Middle Eastern history and politics at Columbia University. She got accepted to Tehran University for a master's degree but could not acquire a visa, and instead went to Cairo to work on a documentary, Control Room.[2] In 2003, she graduated from the Columbia University School of General Studies.[3]

Career

Bacha has filmed under documented stories from the Middle East.[3]

In 2004, she was the co-writer (with director Jehane Noujaim) and editor of Control Room, a documentary about Al Jazeera. Bacha and Noujaim received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay for the film.[4] Two years later, she co-directed (with Ronit Avni) the documentary Encounter Point, which was the official selection at Tribeca Film Festival, Hot Docs, Jerusalem Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival and San Francisco International Film Festivals, where it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. Bacha directed the 2009 documentary Budrus, which was shown at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival and became runner up in the festival's documentary competition.[5] Budrus won over 18 international prizes, including the 2012 PUMA Creative.Impact Award, the $50,000 prize is given to the documentary film that had the greatest impact on society.[6]

By 2006, Bacha had become creative director at the non-profit Just Vision.[7]

In 2013, her 2012 film My Neighbourhood won the Peabody Award[8] and premiered online at The Guardian.[9] In 2014, it won a Special Mention at the Social Impact Media Awards.[10] On November 12, 2017, her film Naila and the Uprising (2017) premiered at the DOC NYC film festival.[11]

Bacha's latest feature-length documentary, Boycott, which explores anti-BDS laws and related freedom of speech issues, premiered in November 2021 at Doc NYC.[12][13] The film tells the stories of people in three states who refused to sign a pledge to not boycott Israel as a condition for receiving state funds and contracts, deciding instead to challenge their states' anti-boycott legislation as unconstitutional.[14][15][16][17] The film was funded by grants from groups including Doc Society, International Documentary Association, Fork Films and the Sundance Institute.[13]

Filmography

  • Control Room (2004) – Co-writer and editor
  • Encounter Point (2006) – Co-director
  • Budrus (2009) – Director
  • Home Front: Portraits From Sheikh Jarrah (2011) – Writer and Producer
  • My Neighbourhood (2012) – Co-director and Co-Producer
  • Naila and the Uprising (2017) – Director[18]
  • Boycott (2021) – Director

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Julia Bacha – Budrus" (PDF). Berlin Film Festival. 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  2. ↑ Romero, Angie (23 February 2010). "Berlin Film Festival Spotlight: Julia Bacha's Budrus". Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Notable Alumni". gs.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  4. ↑ McNary, Dave (15 February 2005). "WGA serves up 1st doc kudo to 'Super'". Variety. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Budrus Laurels". Justvision.org. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  6. ↑ S, Ian; well2012-11-14T11:48:00+00:00. "Julia Bacha's Budrus wins 2012 Puma Creative Impact Award". Screen. Retrieved 2021-12-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine: An Interview with Julia Bacha".
  8. ↑ "Sheikh Jarrah, My Neighbourhood".
  9. ↑ Wingert-Jabi, Rebekah; Bacha, Julia (17 March 2013). "My Neighbourhood: A Palestinian boy's view of Israeli settlements – video". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ "2014 WINNERS – SIMA AWARDS". Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  11. ↑ "Naila and the Uprising". DOC NYC. November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  12. ↑ "BOYCOTT". DOC NYC. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  13. 1 2 Gonzales-Bazan, Mercedes (November 14, 2021). "DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Julia Bacha – "Boycott"". Women and Hollywood. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  14. ↑ "Anti-BDS Laws Could Upend the Constitutional Right to Engage in Boycott". 29 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "Anti-boycott laws 'opening up a Pandora's box' for free speech – CNN Video".
  16. ↑ "The Israel boycott". MSNBC.
  17. ↑ "The Right to Boycott is Under Attack".
  18. ↑ "Naila and the Uprising". Just Vision. 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  19. ↑ Julia Bacha page at Just Vision Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine (retrieved 2010-8-2)
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