The actress who bridged divides on a film set
In short: In the high-tension environment of a Steven Spielberg production, Hiam Abbass found herself living in a hotel with actors from both sides of a deep geopolitical divide. Her experience highlights the unique power of cinema to foster human connection in places where it is often denied.
During the filming of the 2005 Steven Spielberg film Munich, Abbass lived in a hotel with both Israeli and Palestinian actors for three months. This proximity led to numerous discussions that she noted helped both sides grow closer. However, she also recalled the visceral difficulty of the work, specifically remembering how hard it was for Arab actors to physically manhandle Israeli actors during a scene depicting the 1972 Munich massacre hostage situation.
Abbass's career is defined by this ability to navigate complex identities. Born in Nazareth in 1960 to a Palestinian family and raised in Deir Hanna, she moved to Paris in the late 1980s. Her work spans a vast range of international cinema, from French productions like Le sac de farine to major Hollywood releases like Blade Runner 2049, where she played Freysa, a leader of a replicant freedom movement.
Her versatility is further evidenced by her roles in diverse projects: she portrayed the humanitarian Hind al-Husseini in Miral (2010), played the principal role in the Israeli-directed Lemon Tree (2008)—for which she won a Best Performance award at the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards—and appeared in the HBO drama Succession. In 2023, her personal journey toward acting was documented in the film Bye Bye Tiberias, directed by her daughter, Lina Soualem, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival.
Abbass serves as both a performer and a cultural bridge, having served as a dialect and acting consultant for Munich. Her career illustrates how the craft of acting can serve as a laboratory for empathy, allowing for the exploration of shared humanity through the lens of conflicting narratives.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Hiam Abbass
- Also: Wikidata — Hiam Abbass · CC0
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