Sameh Zoabi (, ) is a Palestinian Israeli film writer and director best known for his 2019 film '' Tel Aviv on Fire''.

Childhood and education

Zoabi grew up in

Iksal Iksal (, , ''Kislot Tavor'') is an Arab local council in northern Israel, about southeast of Nazareth. It has an area of 9,000 dunams and a population of primarily Muslim inhabitants. Name The name of the town is believed to derive from Kisl ...

, a village near

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. His father is a farmer. He studied at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

, graduating with a dual degree in

film studies Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various film theory, theoretical, history of film, historical, and film criticism, critical approaches to film, cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media stud ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, and then attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

on a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

, receiving his MFA in 2005. Zoabi lives in Brooklyn and teaches 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 ...

Career

Zoabi made ''Be Quiet'', a short film, in 2005. His feature length debut was ''Man Without a Cell Phone'' (2010). He won Best Screenplay Award at

12th Asia Pacific Screen Awards The 12th Asia Pacific Screen Awards were held on 29 November 2018 in Brisbane, Australia. Winners and nominees Nominees and winners were: References

{{Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2018 in Australian cinema, Asia Pacific Screen Awar ...

for '' Tel Aviv on Fire'' (2019). The movie was also nominated for a 2019 European Film Award for Best Comedy and was Luxembourg's submission to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoabi, Sameh Palestinian film directors Israeli film directors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Tel Aviv University alumni Tisch School of the Arts faculty