Idil Ibrahim (; ) is a

Somali-American Somali Americans are Americans of Somali ancestry. The first ethnic Somalis to arrive in the U.S. were sailors who came in the 1920s from British Somaliland. They were followed by students pursuing higher studies in the 1960s and 1970s, by the la ...

independent

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, film producer,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Personal life

Idil Ibrahim was born in

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 2002. She participated in the

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. A 501(c)(6) non-profit or ...

(ATAS) internship in the Episodic Series. She was chosen as an Arts Bridge Scholar for UC Berkeley's Consortium for the Arts, and taught documentary film analysis to Berkeley High School students. She was a recipient of the Nadine Abergel Arts Fellowship and pursued her graduate studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Ibrahim was in a relationship with combat photojournalist

Tim Hetherington Timothy Alistair Telemachus Hetherington (5 December 1970 – 20 April 2011) was a British photojournalist. He produced books, films and other work that "ranged from multi-screen installations, to fly-poster exhibitions, to handheld de ...

until his death while on assignment in

Misrata Misrata ( ; , Libyan Arabic: ; also spelled Misratah and known by the Italian spelling Misurata) is a city in northwestern Libya located in the Misrata District, situated to the east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, during the

2011 Libyan civil war The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were ...

. U.S. Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

sent American flags to Hetherington's memorial service in New York, one of which was presented to Ibrahim by members of the

173rd Airborne Brigade The 173rd Airborne Brigade ("Sky Soldiers") is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic respo ...

who had served alongside Hetherington and writer

Sebastian Junger Sebastian Junger (born January 17, 1962) is an American journalist, author and filmmaker who has reported in-the-field on Dirty,_dangerous_and_demeaning, dirty, dangerous and demanding occupations and the experience of Light_infantry#United_Sta ...

on various occasions.

Career

Idil Ibrahim co-produced with

Wanuri Kahiu Wanuri Kahiu (born 21 June 1980) is a Kenyan film director, producer, and author. She is considered to be “one of Africa's most aspiring directors, being part of a new, vibrant crop of talents representing contemporary African culture”. She ...

''Homecoming'' directed by Jim Chuchu, part of the African Metropolis Program, and was recognized in the Contemporary World Cinema at

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. She directed the 4-part 'Behind the Scenes' documentary for

VICE A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

of the feature film '' Fishing Without Nets'' directed by Cutter Hodierne (Best U.S. Dramatic at

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

). She worked on ''Am I Going Too Fast?'' directed by

Hank Willis Thomas Hank Willis Thomas (born 1976) is an American conceptual artist. Based in Brooklyn, New York, he works primarily with themes related to identity, history, and popular culture. Early life and education Hank Willis Thomas was born in 1976 in P ...

and Christopher Myers in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, part of the Sundance Global Film Challenge supported by the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

. She served as an associate producer on films directed by Topaz Adizes including ''Americana'', ''Laredo, Texas'', ''Trece Años'', and ''A Seed of Maize''. Ibrahim was one of the directors selected by '' Glamour Magazine'' and The Girl Project to create a short film about a girl's education in Malawi. She worked with organizations such as Cell-ED, Gobee Group, and the

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 1 ...

. Her involvement with the

UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...

for

World Refugee Day World Refugee Day is an international day organised every year on 20 June by the United Nations. It is designed to celebrate and honour refugees from around the world. The day was first established on 20 June 2001, in recognition of the 50th ann ...

Kakuma Refugee Camp Kakuma Refugee Camp is a refugee camp located in northwestern Turkana County, Kenya. It was established in 1992 to host unaccompanied minors who had fled the war in Sudan and from camps in Ethiopia. The camp is situated in the second poorest re ...

highlights her commitment to humanitarian causes. She directed her first narrative in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, ''Sega'' with Alassane Sy and Dylan Verrechia. The film received Best Narrative Short at

BlackStar Film Festival The BlackStar Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by BlackStar Projects. The festival focuses on films about and by Black, brown and indigenous people from around the world. It takes place each August in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I ...

, and was acquired by

Canal+ (French TV channel) Canal+ (, meaning "Channel Plus"), also spelt Canal Plus and sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal, is a French premium television channel owned by Canal+. The channel was launched in Paris and Issy-les-Moulineaux on November 4, 1984, and broadca ...

Filmography

*''Americana'' (2008) *''Trece años'' (2009) *''Laredo, Texas'' (2010) *''Homecoming'' (2013) *''Transit Game'' (2014) * ''Fishing without Nets'' (2014) *''A Seed of Maize'' (2017) *''Sega'' (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Idil Living people Ethnic Somali people American actresses Somalian actresses Somalian writers Somalian emigrants to the United States University of California, Berkeley alumni New York University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women