Maysoon Pachachi

Maysoon Pachachi (born September 17, 1947)[1] is a film director, editor and producer of Iraqi origin. She was educated in Iraq, the U.S., Britain and can speak English, Arabic, French and Italian. She studied Philosophy at University College London (BA Hons) and Film at the Slade School of Art under Thorold Dickinson where visiting lecturers included Jean Renoir and Gillo Pontecorvo. She has made documentaries in Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.[2] Aside from making films, Maysoon has also taught film directing and editing in Britain, Iraq and Palestine (in Jerusalem, Gaza and at Birzeit University). She now lives in Britain where she co-founded Act Together: Women Against Sanctions and War on Iraq, a group of UK-based Iraqi and non-Iraqi women formed in 2000 to campaign against the economic sanctions on Iraq. They also campaigned against the invasion of Iraq. Now the group's focus is on the occupation and the support of independent grassroots women’s initiatives in Iraq.[3] She has also written articles on her work in Iraq and Palestine for the New Statesman[4] and The Guardian[5][6] amongst other publications.[7]

Following the start of the Iraq War in 2004, she co-founded with her colleague, Kasim Abid, also a London-based Iraqi filmmaker, the Independent Film & Television College, a non-governmental free-of-charge film-training centre in Baghdad.[8][9] Eight films produced by the college’s students won prizes at Arab and international festivals.[10] She currently serves as the chair on the board of trustees for the Shubbak festival of contemporary Arab culture.[11]

She is the daughter of Iraqi politician Adnan Pachachi.[12]

Filmography

  • Voices from Gaza (1989)
  • Iraqi Women: Voices from Exile (1994)
  • Iranian Journey (2000)
  • Living with the Past: People and Monuments in Medieval Cairo (2001)
  • Bitter Water (2003)
  • Return to the Land of Wonders (2004)
  • Life After the Fall (2008)
  • Our Feelings took the Pictures: Open Shutters Iraq (2008)

References

  1. ↑ Hillauer, Rebecca (2005). "Pachachi, Maysoon (1947–)". Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers. Cairo: American Univ. in Cairo Press. pp. 127–129. ISBN 977-424-943-7.
  2. ↑ "Voices from Gaza": Barred From American Television?
  3. ↑ Act Together Women's Action for Iraq Archived 24 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. acttogether.org
  4. ↑ Hurt by the west by Maysoon Pachachi New Statesman 10 June 2002
  5. ↑ 'Who can live the way we've had to live and be normal?' by Maysoon Pachachi The Guardian 9 April 2004
  6. ↑ 'You just can't sit at home afraid' by Maysoon Pachachi The Guardian 29 August 2006
  7. ↑ Occupation Rough Cut: Reflections on Ramallah by Maysoon Pachachi vertigomagazine.co.uk Vol.2 No.5 - Summer 2003
  8. ↑ Independent Film & Television College Archived 4 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine. IFTVC.org
  9. ↑ Budding filmmakers open window on war-torn Iraq Al Arabiya News
  10. ↑ Political turmoil? Social turbulence? You can still go to the movies in much of the Arab world Al Arabiya News
  11. ↑ Shubbak Festival Shubbak 2017
  12. ↑ Heroes and Handycams by Cath Clarke The Guardian 1 May 2009
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