Mohammad Bakri obit

Mohammad Bakri Dies: ‘Homeland’ Actor, ‘Jenin, Jenin’ Director Was 72

 

He was not on the list.

Mohammad Bakri, a Palestinian actor who appeared in a recurring role on seven 2020 episodes of Showtime’s Homeland and directed the controversial 2003 documentary Jenin, Jenin, died of heart and lung issues December 24 at a hospital in the regional city of Nahariya in Israel, according to local news site Al-Jarmaq and the Associated Press. He was 72.

Described by the AP as a “director and actor who sought to share the complexities of Palestinian identity and culture through a variety of works in both Arabic and Hebrew,” Bakri is perhaps most widely known for Jenin, Jenin, which chronicled a 2002 Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. The film depicted the heavy destruction of the city and was banned by Israel.

Most recently, Bakri appeared in the 2025 film All That’s Left of You, a drama about a Palestinian family that also starred Bakri’s sons Adam and Saleh Bakri. The film has been shortlisted for a best international feature film Oscar.

Born in northern Israel, Bakri staged a one-man-show in 1986, called The Pessoptimist that depicted the conflicts of a man who shared both Israeli and Palestinian identities. Also during that decade, Bakri appeared in such films as Beyond the Walls, Death Before Dishonor and Foreign Nights.

Despite his prolific acting career, Bakri’s documentary Jenin, Jenin was perhaps his highest profile project internationally, in part because of accusations that the film defamed Israeli soldiers. Legal battles plagued Bakri for more than two decades: In 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court upheld an Israeli ban on the documentary and ordered the director to pay what the AP says was “tens of thousands of dollars in damages to an Israeli military officer for defamation.”

Bakri’s other film and TV acting credits include the 2022 film Boy From Heaven, HBO’s The Night Of, and the 2017 film American Assassin starring Michael Keaton.

In his recurring role on Season 8 of Homeland, Bakri played Afghanistan vice president Abdu Qadir G’ulom.

One of Bakri’s final projects was his performance of “Older Sharif” in Cherien Dabis’ All That’s Left of You, Jordan’s 2025 submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar. Nominations will be announced January 22.

In addition to wife Leila, he is survived by six children including his actor sons Adam, Ziad and Saleh.

Filmography

Actor

Year     Title     Role     Director(s)       Country           Notes

1983    Hanna K.         Selim Bakri     Constantin Costa-Gavras        Israel, France 

1984    Beyond the Walls        Issan    Uri Barabash, Eran Preis         Israel   

1986    Esther  Mordecai         Amos Gitai      Israel, UK      

1987    Death Before Dishonor           Gavril  Terry Leonard U.S.    

1988    Rami og Julie  Rami's cousin  Erik Clausen   Denmark        

1989    Ha Miklat                    Rashid Masharawi       Israel    Short film

1989    Foreign Nights            Morod Izidore K. Musallam   Canada           

1991    Cup Final        Ziad     Eran Riklis      Israel   

1993    The Mummy Lives     Alexatos          Gerry O'Hara  U.S.    

1994    Beyond the Walls II    Issan    Uri Barabash   Israel   

1994    The Tale of the Three Jewels  Aida's father    Michel Khleifi Palestine, Belgium     

1994    The Milky Way           Mahmud          Ali Nassar       Israel   

1995    Sous les pieds des femmes      Amin 1996      Rachid Krim    France

1996    Haifa   Haifa   Rashid Masharawi       Palestine, Netherlands

1997    Desperado Square       Avram Mandabon       Benny Toraty  Israel   

2001    The Body        Abu Yusef       Jonas McCord U.S.    

2001    The Olive Harvest       Raeda's father  Hannah Elias   Palestine         

2004    Private Mohammad B.            Saverio Costanzo        Italy    

2005    Yasmine's song            Abu Odeh       Najwa Najjar   Palestine          Short film

2007    The Lark Farm            Nazim  Paolo and Vittorio Taviani      Italy    

2010    Marriage and Other Disasters Bauer   Nina Di Majo  Italy    

2011    The Salt Fisherman                 Ziad Bakri       Palestine          Short film

2013    Stay Human - The Reading Movie     Narrator           Fulvio Renzi   Italy     Chapter XI

2014    Tyrant  Sheik Rashid   Gideon Raff    U.S.     TV series

2016    Of Kings and Prophets            Samuel            Adam Cooper, Bill Collage    U.S.     TV series

2016    The Night Of   Tariq    James Marsh   U.S.     Miniseries

2017    The Bureau     Shahannah       Éric Rochant   France 5 episodes, TV series

2017    Wajib   Abu Shadi       Annemarie Jacir          Palestine         

2017    American Assassin      Ashani Michael Cuesta           U.S.    

2020    Homeland        Abdu Qadir G’ulom                U.S.     8 episodes, T.V. Series

2021    The Stranger                           

2025    All That's Left Of You Older Sharif     Cherien Dabis Germany, Cyprus       

Director

Year     Title     Country           Notes

1999    1948    Palestine, Israel           Documentary film

2002    Jenin, Jenin     Palestine          Documentary film

2004    Since You Left Israel    Documentary film

2009    Zahra   Palestine          Documentary film

Awards and recognition

Award for the Best Actor for the role in Private in Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 2005

Best Actor Award for Private by Saverio Costanzo, Locarno International Film Festival 2004

Palestine Prize for Cinema 1999 Ramallah

Award for the Best Actor for the role in Haifa by Rashid Masharawi, Valencia Festival. 1997

Award for the Best Actor for the role in Beyond the Walls II by Uri Barabash, Valencia Festival. 1994

Award for the Best Actor for the role in Beyond the Walls by Uri Barabash, Israel. 1984

Award for the best actor for the role in Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih, adapted and directed by Ouriel Zohar, in the Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre, Israel, 1993.