Against All Odds: Farah Nabulsi, Filmmaker and Human Rights Advocate British-Palestinian filmmaker and human rights advocate Farah Nabulsi on dreaming big.
By Tamara Pupic
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Against All Odds is an BIZ Experiences Middle East Live webinar series that features enterprising women who have risen above personal and professional challenges to develop solutions, launch businesses, and lead global initiatives that make them inspirational role models around the world.
In this edition of Against All Odds, we hosted British-Palestinian filmmaker and human rights advocate Farah Nabulsi whose directorial debut The Present, a short film that underscores the importance of freedom of movement as a basic human right for Palestinians, received an Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short Film and won a BAFTA award for Best British Short Film. While the conversation was centered on the importance of artistic advocacy and how her works shed light on the suffering of the Palestinian people, Nabulsi also advised the audience on how they, like her, can remain focused on their dreams for their lives and careers.
"This whole experience with The Present and everything that has happened in this past year is actually more of a reconfirmation of something I've always believed that, as cheesy as it sounds, truly, anything is possible," Nabulsi said. "If I want to sum it up, that is what I feel that this past year has done. I set out with a plan, yes, thinking that I am making a film that I hope will resonate, that I hope will reach audiences far and wide, but did I sit there and say, "Oh, it's going to end up on Netflix Worldwide, or "Oh, it's going to be nominated for an Oscar,' or "Oh, I'm going to win a Bafta'? No. But I did aim for making the best film that I thought I could in that moment, and I wanted that film to achieve, in many ways, the unimaginable heights. So, this has been a great confirmation that really, anything is possible."
For more highlights from our conversation with Nabulsi, check out the video above.
Related: Against All Odds: Joelle Mardinian, Founder, Joelle Group
