Norman Issa (, ; born 17 June 1967) is an

Arab-Israeli The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory that was acknowledged as Israeli by ...

actor, director in cinema, theatre and television.

Biography

Norman Issa was born and raised in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, Israel, to a

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

Christian-Arab family. He studied acting at

Beit Zvi Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts, and Theater () is a school of acting and theatre arts, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel, established in 1950, and is named after Zvi Klir, who fell in the War of Independence. The ...

. He is married to

Jewish-Israeli Israeli Jews or Jewish Israelis ( ) comprise Israel's largest ethnic and religious community. The core of their demographic consists of those with a Jewish identity and their descendants, including ethnic Jews and religious Jews alike. Appr ...

playwright Gidona Raz, with whom he has three sons. Lear and Sean Issa are actors. The couple jointly founded the multicultural Elmina Theater in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

, Israel. They reside in

Theater, television and film career

Issa has acted in many plays by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

at the

Haifa Theatre The Haifa Theatre (; ''Teat'ron Kheifa'') is the first municipal theater company of Haifa, Israel. Background Haifa Theater, Israel's first municipal theater, was established by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi. Together with the support of the Haifa City ...

and

Cameri Theatre The Cameri Theatre (, ''HaTeatron HaKameri''), established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theatres in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center. History The Cameri Theatre was founded with the purpose of promoting ...

. He worked at The Arab-Hebrew Theater together with fellow Arab-Israeli actor Yousef "Joe" Sweid. He was the main protagonist of the Israeli television sitcom ''

Arab Labor ''Arab Labor'' (, ''Avoda Aravit''; , ''Shughl Arab'') is an Israeli sitcom television series, created by Sayed Kashua. History The series premiered on Keshet Channel 2 in Israel in 2007. The second season was broadcast in 2008 and the third ...

'', created by Arab-Israeli journalist

Sayed Kashua Sayed Kashua (, ; born 1975) is an author and journalist. He is a Palestinian people, Palestinian citizen of Israel, born in Tira, Israel. He is known for his books and humorous columns in Hebrew and English. Early life Kashua was born in Tira, ...

. In 2015, Issa refused to perform in a settlement in the Jordan Valley. In response, Israeli Minister of Culture

Miri Regev Miriam "Miri" Regev (; born 26 May 1965) is an Israeli politician who currently serves as Minister of Transport, National Infrastructure and Road Safety. Previously she was Minister of Culture and Sport and Acting Prime Minister of Israel. Sh ...

threatened to shut down Israeli government funding to the theater that Issa founded.

Awards and recognition

At the 2016

Haifa International Film Festival The Haifa International Film Festival () is an annual film festival that takes place every autumn (between late September and late October), during the week-long holiday of Sukkot, in Haifa, Israel. History The festival was inaugurated in 1983 an ...

, Norman Issa and

Moshe Ivgy Moshe Ivgy (; born 29 November 1953) is an Israeli actor and director. Biography Moshe Ivgy was born in Casablanca, Morocco, to a Moroccan Jewish family. He was married to actress Irit Sheleg. Their daughter Dana Ivgy is also an actress. Afte ...

were awarded the prize for Best Actor in a Feature Film, for ''

The 90 Minute War ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

''.

Filmography

* ''

The Syrian Bride ''The Syrian Bride'' () is a 2004 film directed by Eran Riklis. The story deals with a Druze wedding and the troubles the politically unresolved situation creates for the personal lives of the people in and from the village. The film's plot looks ...

'' (2004), directed by

Eran Riklis Eran Riklis (; born October 2, 1954) is an Israeli filmmaker. His films include Cup Final (film), ''Cup Final'' (1991), ''The Syrian Bride'' (2004), Lemon Tree (2008 film), ''Lemon Tree'' (2008) and ''Dancing Arabs'' (also known as ''A Borrowed I ...

* ''

'' (2007–present), created by

* ''

Ana Arabia ''Ana Arabia'' ("''I Am Arab''") is a 2013 French-Israeli drama film written and directed by Amos Gitai. It was entered into the main competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival. It consists of a single long take.E. Nina Rothe. (Ju ...

'' (2013), directed by

Amos Gitai Amos Gitai () is an artist and an Israelis, Israeli filmmaker, born 11 October 1950 in Haifa, Israel. Gitai's work was presented in several major retrospectives in Pompidou Center in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Lincoln Center for ...

* ''

A Borrowed Identity ''A Borrowed Identity'' (; ) is a 2014 Israeli drama film directed by Eran Riklis. It is based on Sayed Kashua's book '' Dancing Arabs'' (2002). In Canada the film was released under the title ''Dancing Arabs'', which was the film's English-lan ...

'' (2014), directed by

* ''

'' (2016), directed by Eyal Halfon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Issa, Norman 1967 births Israeli male film actors Israeli male stage actors Israeli male television actors Israeli Arab Christians Israeli Arab actors Israeli Maronites Ophir Award winners Living people Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts alumni

Biography

Theater, television and film career

Awards and recognition

Filmography

See also

References