November 7, 2023 • 10 mins
Today we're talking about activist and filmmaker Farah Nabulsi.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Steff.
I never told your production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And today we are adding another activist slash filmmaker who
previously released an OSCAR nominated short in twenty twenty one
and just another film this year in September. And when
I say we're adding another act filmmaker, I mean probably
another film and movie that we're going to have to
add to our feminist movie and our long list of
(00:39):
Oh look who he found? We need to watch these things.
And we were talking about Sarah Nabusi and of course,
as per usual when we talk about people from other
countries at international level, we try our best with pronunciations,
but sometimes need assistance. The Internet can be limited, so
(01:00):
if you know of a difference of the way we're speaking,
please let us know nicely. We do try to do
all of the videos, so we have watched like three
or four videos with different pronunciations. I will say there
were more availability for her since she as a filmmaker,
so I appreciative of that, but said that we can't
(01:21):
find that easy access for everyone. But you know that
would be a little difficult, a little difficult, just say it.
And for those future activists out there, go ahead and
tell everybody your name, you know, post your name pronunciation.
It'd be very helpful because we'd love to talk about you.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
I feel like there was a push for that, wasn't there.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Wow, there was pronounce your name because people would do
it wrong, and then a lot of times women specifically
or marginalized people would just let it go instead of correcting. Yeah,
I say we go back to that correcting everyone. I
just gave any really scary face. Anyway, back to Nazi.
(01:59):
Naboot Shee is a British Palestinian filmmaker who originally was
in the world of finance as a stockbroker, but made
a drastic career change in her late thirties as a filmmaker.
I'm with you, yeah, as I understand these changes. In
different interviews, she has talked about the reason she made
(02:20):
this decision to change her path, and here's what she
told Vogue Arabia in twenty twenty one. My background has
nothing to do with film. I didn't study film and
I didn't work in the industry. I was very much
happy in the business and corporate world, she explains. The
bookshelf behind her stocked with scholarly files, trophies, and family photos.
(02:40):
So what made her change the trajectory of her life.
I went home, she said, simply so. The article continues.
Nabusi had visited Palestine a number of times as a child,
but it took her first trip back as an adult
in twenty thirteen and the visits that followed to grasp
the reality of her ancestral home. Everything I thought I
knew and understood about the daily struggles of Palestinians was
(03:03):
absolutely nothing compared to seeing on the ground with my
own two eyes. She explains. Whether it was the wall
plowing through the Palastinian homes, the humiliating checkpoints, the refugee
camps that I visited, or the ruins of demolished homes
that I sat on, Those trips changed me.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
And here's a bit more about Nabuzi from her site.
She is the daughter of Palestinians who are fortunate enough
to make a home in nineteen seventies Britain, unlike the
millions who continue to remain stateless and refugee camps. Born,
raised and educated in London, Vera began her career as
an institutional equity stockbroker. She ended up with the CFA
designation at JP Morgan Chase, before moving on to build
(03:42):
a children focused business that she ran for ten years.
In twenty fifteen, she started working in the film industry.
She founded a production company through which she writes, produces,
and directs fiction films exploring topics that mattered to her,
and she created a digital resource to deconstruct the Israeli
military occupation of Palestine in a way never done before.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And that's all on her website. In another interview with
Al Jazeera, she spoke about her heritage and her family.
I was born, raised everything UK, and I can tell
you there was hardly any political discourse in my house.
My parents weren't about the politics at all, but they
never let me forget the roots of where they were
from and so essentially where I was from. I never
(04:24):
had this identity crisis. I was British and Palestinian. And
she continues on, as children, we would go to Palestine,
and I think that laid certain sees politically, no, but
it laid certain attachments, certain connections to the people, the land,
to the friends we made, to our ancestral home. Quite literally,
I remember my grandfather's house and the courtyard where we
(04:45):
tell stories around a fire, and my aunt was squeeze
fresh lemonade. So I have that. I did have that,
and I think that did lay seeds.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
In her directorial debut, the short film The Present, Nabuzzi
shows the events of a father and daughter as a
try to buy a wedding anniversary gift for his wife.
It follows them as they try to navigate the checkpoints
throughout the West Bank as they try to shop for
a simple gift. In the film The Bootsi opens it
with a scene of the main character trying to cross
checkpoint three hundred near Bethlehem. According to Naboutsi, everything filmed
(05:17):
is actually happening, and the main character, Usef, is the
only fictional thing in the scene. Here's a quote. The
only fiction in that scene is our protagonist Usef. All
the other hundreds of Palestinians you see there, actual Palestinians
going to work at the crack of dawn. I have
a whole philosophical conversation we could have about who should
we be asking permissions from to film such a monstrosity.
(05:41):
I just decided we were going to take that risk.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Right So, as a part of the behind the scenes,
apparently it was gorilla filming, or they did very skeletal
equipment and just hope that they wouldn't get arrested. So
the film garnered several high rated reviews as one of
(06:05):
the best short films of that year. In fact, the
film was not only nominated for an Oscar but also
won a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film twenty twenty one.
And in September of this year, twenty twenty three, Nabootsi
released her newest film, The Teacher, which is her featured
directorial debut. Here's a descriptor from Wikipedia quote. The film
tells the story of a grief written Palestinian school teacher, Bassam,
(06:29):
who becomes very involved in the lives of two of
his students, Adam and Yakob, when their home is bulldozed.
Throughout the film, Basama attempts to reconcile his role as
a father figure to Adam and Yakob and his commitment
to the Palestinian resistance, all in the midst of ongoing
incident in which an IDF soldier the son of an
American diplomat, is being held hostage. So as of October,
(06:51):
meaning last month of this year, the film has been
longlisted for the twenty twenty three British Independent Film Awards
for Best Debut Director, Best Debut Screenwriter and Breakthrough Producer.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
The film was shot entirely in Palestine, which Nabootsi refers
to as something very important for her storytelling. She teled
Deadline dot Com. There are certain stark stereotypes that have
permeated in Western media and around the world for a
long time, and I really hope that this film lends
itself to tearing down those stereotypes and overcoming those misconceptions,
(07:23):
as only cinema really knows how to do. She says.
Cinema is the most powerful and beautiful medium of human
communication that the world has ever known. So if I
played a part through this film to speak to and
overcome some of that opaque understanding of the reality on
the ground of military occupation and settler colonization that has
been taking place for decades, then that's wonderful. She adds,
(07:46):
I needed to make this film to deal with the pain,
to deal with the guilt, to deal with wanting to
be able to look at myself in the mirror and
respect myself as a human being. I guess you could
say I needed to make this film to cope with
the injustice that I've witnessed come acutely aware of. And
there's nothing more spiritual or cathartic than to create.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And with it being something she needed for herself. Nabutsi
has previously talked about the depth of sharing these films
for others to understand. Here's another quote from that twenty
twenty one Al Jazeera At article quote, what about this
layer of engagement. I don't mean on the mental level,
because there's a lot of that available, but how do
you engage people through the heart? Ultimately, that's what I
(08:26):
am interested in. I want to speak to people from
my heart to their heart, as opposed to talking facts
and figures and studies show that if you can bring
people to understand and feel and address them through their hearts,
you have a much higher chance of moving them away
from their positions or even changing their minds. It goes on,
film seemed to be one of her best way to
achieve this que a career into her filmmaking. She goes
(08:49):
on to say, for me, it just became so obvious
that that's the way I wanted to engage, says Nabutsi,
and I've loved film since forever. Anyone who knew me
as a teen knows that I'm exactly where I am
supposed to be right now, and that felt completely right.
It doesn't mean that the journey I went on wasn't
something I didn't enjoy. It was actually very helpful in
(09:09):
many ways. So you can find a lot of articles
about her talking about her change and about why this
is so important to her. Again, this was all from
articles I believe of September or earlier of this year, right.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And we definitely I want to check this out. We'll
add it to our our list these movies.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
As a list I know which is great.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
It's great. I'm excited to check them out. And as always, listeners,
if you have anybody we should be talking about in
these segments, or any topic we should be discussing, please
let us know. You can email us a Stephanie and
mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You can find us
on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast, or on Instagram and
TikTok at stuff I've never told you. We have a
(09:55):
t folk store and we have a book that you
can get to wherever you get to your book. Thanks
Zoe Steriu Super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya, and
her contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
Stefan Never Told You Instruction by Heart Radio. For more
podcasts from My Heart Radio, you can check out the
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows,
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Steff.
I never told your production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And today we are adding another activist slash filmmaker who
previously released an OSCAR nominated short in twenty twenty one
and just another film this year in September. And when
I say we're adding another act filmmaker, I mean probably
another film and movie that we're going to have to
add to our feminist movie and our long list of
(00:39):
Oh look who he found? We need to watch these things.
And we were talking about Sarah Nabusi and of course,
as per usual when we talk about people from other
countries at international level, we try our best with pronunciations,
but sometimes need assistance. The Internet can be limited, so
(01:00):
if you know of a difference of the way we're speaking,
please let us know nicely. We do try to do
all of the videos, so we have watched like three
or four videos with different pronunciations. I will say there
were more availability for her since she as a filmmaker,
so I appreciative of that, but said that we can't
(01:21):
find that easy access for everyone. But you know that
would be a little difficult, a little difficult, just say it.
And for those future activists out there, go ahead and
tell everybody your name, you know, post your name pronunciation.
It'd be very helpful because we'd love to talk about you.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
I feel like there was a push for that, wasn't there.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Wow, there was pronounce your name because people would do
it wrong, and then a lot of times women specifically
or marginalized people would just let it go instead of correcting. Yeah,
I say we go back to that correcting everyone. I
just gave any really scary face. Anyway, back to Nazi.
(01:59):
Naboot Shee is a British Palestinian filmmaker who originally was
in the world of finance as a stockbroker, but made
a drastic career change in her late thirties as a filmmaker.
I'm with you, yeah, as I understand these changes. In
different interviews, she has talked about the reason she made
(02:20):
this decision to change her path, and here's what she
told Vogue Arabia in twenty twenty one. My background has
nothing to do with film. I didn't study film and
I didn't work in the industry. I was very much
happy in the business and corporate world, she explains. The
bookshelf behind her stocked with scholarly files, trophies, and family photos.
(02:40):
So what made her change the trajectory of her life.
I went home, she said, simply so. The article continues.
Nabusi had visited Palestine a number of times as a child,
but it took her first trip back as an adult
in twenty thirteen and the visits that followed to grasp
the reality of her ancestral home. Everything I thought I
knew and understood about the daily struggles of Palestinians was
(03:03):
absolutely nothing compared to seeing on the ground with my
own two eyes. She explains. Whether it was the wall
plowing through the Palastinian homes, the humiliating checkpoints, the refugee
camps that I visited, or the ruins of demolished homes
that I sat on, Those trips changed me.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
And here's a bit more about Nabuzi from her site.
She is the daughter of Palestinians who are fortunate enough
to make a home in nineteen seventies Britain, unlike the
millions who continue to remain stateless and refugee camps. Born,
raised and educated in London, Vera began her career as
an institutional equity stockbroker. She ended up with the CFA
designation at JP Morgan Chase, before moving on to build
(03:42):
a children focused business that she ran for ten years.
In twenty fifteen, she started working in the film industry.
She founded a production company through which she writes, produces,
and directs fiction films exploring topics that mattered to her,
and she created a digital resource to deconstruct the Israeli
military occupation of Palestine in a way never done before.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And that's all on her website. In another interview with
Al Jazeera, she spoke about her heritage and her family.
I was born, raised everything UK, and I can tell
you there was hardly any political discourse in my house.
My parents weren't about the politics at all, but they
never let me forget the roots of where they were
from and so essentially where I was from. I never
(04:24):
had this identity crisis. I was British and Palestinian. And
she continues on, as children, we would go to Palestine,
and I think that laid certain sees politically, no, but
it laid certain attachments, certain connections to the people, the land,
to the friends we made, to our ancestral home. Quite literally,
I remember my grandfather's house and the courtyard where we
(04:45):
tell stories around a fire, and my aunt was squeeze
fresh lemonade. So I have that. I did have that,
and I think that did lay seeds.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
In her directorial debut, the short film The Present, Nabuzzi
shows the events of a father and daughter as a
try to buy a wedding anniversary gift for his wife.
It follows them as they try to navigate the checkpoints
throughout the West Bank as they try to shop for
a simple gift. In the film The Bootsi opens it
with a scene of the main character trying to cross
checkpoint three hundred near Bethlehem. According to Naboutsi, everything filmed
(05:17):
is actually happening, and the main character, Usef, is the
only fictional thing in the scene. Here's a quote. The
only fiction in that scene is our protagonist Usef. All
the other hundreds of Palestinians you see there, actual Palestinians
going to work at the crack of dawn. I have
a whole philosophical conversation we could have about who should
we be asking permissions from to film such a monstrosity.
(05:41):
I just decided we were going to take that risk.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Right So, as a part of the behind the scenes,
apparently it was gorilla filming, or they did very skeletal
equipment and just hope that they wouldn't get arrested. So
the film garnered several high rated reviews as one of
(06:05):
the best short films of that year. In fact, the
film was not only nominated for an Oscar but also
won a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film twenty twenty one.
And in September of this year, twenty twenty three, Nabootsi
released her newest film, The Teacher, which is her featured
directorial debut. Here's a descriptor from Wikipedia quote. The film
tells the story of a grief written Palestinian school teacher, Bassam,
(06:29):
who becomes very involved in the lives of two of
his students, Adam and Yakob, when their home is bulldozed.
Throughout the film, Basama attempts to reconcile his role as
a father figure to Adam and Yakob and his commitment
to the Palestinian resistance, all in the midst of ongoing
incident in which an IDF soldier the son of an
American diplomat, is being held hostage. So as of October,
(06:51):
meaning last month of this year, the film has been
longlisted for the twenty twenty three British Independent Film Awards
for Best Debut Director, Best Debut Screenwriter and Breakthrough Producer.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
The film was shot entirely in Palestine, which Nabootsi refers
to as something very important for her storytelling. She teled
Deadline dot Com. There are certain stark stereotypes that have
permeated in Western media and around the world for a
long time, and I really hope that this film lends
itself to tearing down those stereotypes and overcoming those misconceptions,
(07:23):
as only cinema really knows how to do. She says.
Cinema is the most powerful and beautiful medium of human
communication that the world has ever known. So if I
played a part through this film to speak to and
overcome some of that opaque understanding of the reality on
the ground of military occupation and settler colonization that has
been taking place for decades, then that's wonderful. She adds,
(07:46):
I needed to make this film to deal with the pain,
to deal with the guilt, to deal with wanting to
be able to look at myself in the mirror and
respect myself as a human being. I guess you could
say I needed to make this film to cope with
the injustice that I've witnessed come acutely aware of. And
there's nothing more spiritual or cathartic than to create.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And with it being something she needed for herself. Nabutsi
has previously talked about the depth of sharing these films
for others to understand. Here's another quote from that twenty
twenty one Al Jazeera At article quote, what about this
layer of engagement. I don't mean on the mental level,
because there's a lot of that available, but how do
you engage people through the heart? Ultimately, that's what I
(08:26):
am interested in. I want to speak to people from
my heart to their heart, as opposed to talking facts
and figures and studies show that if you can bring
people to understand and feel and address them through their hearts,
you have a much higher chance of moving them away
from their positions or even changing their minds. It goes on,
film seemed to be one of her best way to
achieve this que a career into her filmmaking. She goes
(08:49):
on to say, for me, it just became so obvious
that that's the way I wanted to engage, says Nabutsi,
and I've loved film since forever. Anyone who knew me
as a teen knows that I'm exactly where I am
supposed to be right now, and that felt completely right.
It doesn't mean that the journey I went on wasn't
something I didn't enjoy. It was actually very helpful in
(09:09):
many ways. So you can find a lot of articles
about her talking about her change and about why this
is so important to her. Again, this was all from
articles I believe of September or earlier of this year, right.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And we definitely I want to check this out. We'll
add it to our our list these movies.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
As a list I know which is great.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
It's great. I'm excited to check them out. And as always, listeners,
if you have anybody we should be talking about in
these segments, or any topic we should be discussing, please
let us know. You can email us a Stephanie and
mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You can find us
on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast, or on Instagram and
TikTok at stuff I've never told you. We have a
(09:55):
t folk store and we have a book that you
can get to wherever you get to your book. Thanks
Zoe Steriu Super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya, and
her contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
Stefan Never Told You Instruction by Heart Radio. For more
podcasts from My Heart Radio, you can check out the
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows,
Stuff Mom Never Told You News
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