Ibtisam Mara'ana-Menuhin (Arabic: ابتسام مراعنة, Hebrew: אִבְתִסאם מראענה) is an Arab-Israeli film director and producer of Palestinian descent living in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Ibtisam Mara’ana was born in 1975 in Fureidis, an Arab-Muslim working class village in northern Israel, to parents of Palestinian descent. She attended film school at Givat Haviva and later completed a degree from the David Yellin College of Education in Jerusalem. In 2000, she initiated a film and television program at her former high school in Fureidis, and also taught cinema at a high school in Kibbutz Mizra.
In 2003, Mara’ana founded Ibtisam Films to produce documentaries which investigate the borders and boundaries of Palestinian and Israeli society with a focus on women and minorities. Her work explores gender, class, racism, and collective and individual identity. Her films show the plight of Arab-Palestinians living as a minority within Israel, while at the same time, critique deep rooted practices within Arab-Palestinian society. Her work has been screened on television and at festivals worldwide.
In 2009, Mara’ana was nominated as a political candidate of the Meretz party for the Israeli parliamentary elections, obtaining the 12th position on the candidate list. She later withdrew her candidacy prior to the elections after Meretz expressed support for Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
Mara’ana teaches at various educational institutions, including the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. She regularly speaks at universities, organizations, and conferences throughout Israel and abroad. She is a prominent feminist activist, and has published numerous articles in Israeli newspapers. In 2009, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz named Mara’ana as one of the 10 most influential women in Israel.
In 2011, Druze-Israeli Jamila "Maya" Fares, the sister of Angelina Fares, the subject of Mara’ana's "Lady Kul El Arab" documentary, was murdered in an honour killing. In response to the murder, Mara’ana created a foundation to support Arab-Israeli women fleeing gender-based violence.
As of June 2014, Mara’ana-Menuhin was married to Boaz Menuhin, a Jewish Israeli man and expecting their first child. The marriage was sealed in Tel Aviv in a nonreligious ceremony, and is therefore not officially recognised in Israel, where family law is predominantly confessional.
Paradise Lost (2003). Mara’ana traces the hidden history of her village, Fureidis, investigating issues of national identity and womanhood within traditional Arab village life.
Al-Jiser (2004), a look into the lives of residents of the Jisr az-Zarqa village in Israel who face poverty and discrimination. The film focuses on the struggle of a group of young single women who are determined to bring social change to their village.
Badal (2006). 'A Badal deal marriage' usually means when a brother and sister from one family marry a sister and brother from another family - interlocking the two couples forever.Divorce on the part of one couple will immediately lead to the divorce of the other part of the deal. This is common practice in Muslim families in the Middle East. The film follows a family during the process of putting such a deal together. It portrays the lives of Palestinian women living within Israel: their struggles in being a part of their traditional society vs. the quest to maintain their full rights as women and citizens of a Jewish state.
Three Times Divorced (2007) deals with the fate of a Palestinian woman from the Gaza Strip who marries an Arab Bedouin from Israel. After bearing her husband six children, he divorces her and maintains custody of the children, while the woman, whose residency status in Israel becomes uncertain, is left with nothing.
Lady Kul El-Arab (2008). Angelina Fares, a young woman from the Druze village of Sajur in northern Israel and the country's first Druze model, becomes a finalist in the 2007 Miss Israel beauty pageant. Facing severe pressure and death threats from her village, Angelina must decide whether to go forward with her fashion world dreams or to resign. The story follows Angelina's struggle to reconcile the traditions and values of her society with her bold efforts to choose her own way in life.
77 Steps (2010) documents the personal journey of the director who leaves her Arab-Muslim village to live in Tel Aviv. In an attempt to find an apartment in the city, she encounters discrimination and rejection by most landlords because of her Arab origins. She finally finds an apartment and meets her neighbor – Jonathan, a Jewish-Canadian and recent immigrant to Israel. A complicated love story develops.
Write down, I am an Arab (2014) is a biographical documentary film about the national Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. The movie covers Mahmoud Darwish's love letters to his Jewish girlfriend from the past, Tamar Ben-Ami, his marriage with Rana Kabbani, his first wife, and his part in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The movie contains interviews with Ahmad Darwish (Mahmoud's brother) and with his fellow poets and writers as well as with Samih al-Qasim, who was Mahmoud Darwish's friend.
Best Debut Documentary & Best Cinematography, DocAviv International Documentary Film Festival - Paradise Lost (2003)
Best Mid-Length Documentary, HotDocs Toronto - Badal (2006)
First Prize, "Sole e Luna" Doc Fest - Badal (2006)
“Spirit of Freedom” Award, Jerusalem Film Festival - Badal (2006)
The Award of the Mayor of Olomouc, Czech Republic - Badal (2006)
First Prize, DocAviv International Documentary Film Festival – Three Times Divorced (2007)
Silver Award – Fippa-Biarritz International Film Festival - Three Times Divorced (2008)
Special Jury Award Silver Wolf Competition, IDFA – Lady Kul el-Arab (2008)
Film Art Prize, Jerusalem International Film Festival (2005)
Selected as one of the 50 most influential women in Israel in "Lady Globes" (2005)
Selected as one of the 40 most influential women in Israel in “The Marker” (2008)
Winner of Best Director Prize at the International Women’s Film Festival in New Delhi (2008)
