Kamal Aljafari (; born 1972) is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist.
Early life Aljafari was born to a Palestinian family in Ramla. His maternal family is from Jaffa, while his paternal family is from Ramla; both families were internally displaced and resettled to homes that had previously belonged to other Palestinians.
He attended a Catholic school in Jaffa as a child. As a teenager, he served time at a juvenile prison in the Naqab desert during the First Intifada. He later attended university in Jerusalem before leaving Israel for Germany at the age of 26. He graduated from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. He was based in New York City and Berlin before moving to Paris.
Career Aljafari directed his first short film, Visit Iraq (2003), while a film student in Germany. In 2009, he was a featured artist at the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, and was later a Benjamin White Whitney Scholar at Harvard University from 2009 to 2010. His film A Fidai Film (2024) premiered in the Burning Lights competition of Visions du Réel, where it won the Jury Award. His film With Hasan in Gaza (2025) premiered in the international competition of the 78th Locarno Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Leopard.
He has served on the juries of: Torino Film Festival, International Documentary competition (2016) Locarno Film Festival, Leopards of Tomorrow competition (2021) IndieLisboa (2024)
32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, Competition Program – Documentary Film
Filmography Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 2003 Visit Iraq Short film 2006 The Roof 2007 Balconies Short film 2010 Port of Memory 2015 Recollection 2019 It's a Long Way from Amphioxus Short film 2020 An Unusual Summer 2022 Paradiso, XXXI, 108 Short film 2024 A Fidai Film UNDR Short film 2025 With Hasan in Gaza
Awards and nominations Award Year Category Nominated work Result Camden International Film Festival 2024 Cinematic Vision Award A Fidai Film Cinéma du Réel 2010 Louis Marcorelles Award Port of Memory Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2023 Lab Competition Grand Prix Paradiso, XXXI, 108 Dokufest 2024 International Dox Award A Fidai Film Dubai International Film Festival 2015 Best Non-Fiction Feature Recollection FIDMarseille 2024 Ciné+ Distribution Aid Prize A Fidai Film Renaud Victor Award German Film Critics Association Awards 2023 Best Experimental Paradiso, XXXI, 108 Guanajuato International Film Festival 2023 Best Experimental Short FilmParadiso, XXXI, 108 Indie Memphis Film Festival 2024 Best Departures Feature A Fidai Film International Cinephile Society Awards 2025 Best DocumentaryA Fidai Film Lanzarote Film Festival 2024 Best Feature Film A Fidai Film Locarno Film Festival 2022 Leopards of Tomorrow Auteur Competition Paradiso, XXXI, 108 2025 Golden Leopard With Hasan in Gaza Luxembourg City Film Festival 2025 Documentary Award A Fidai Film Mar del Plata International Film Festival 2024 Altered States CompetitionA Fidai Film Montreal International Documentary Festival 2024 Best International FeatureA Fidai Film Torino Film Festival 2015 Best International Documentary Film Recollection Valladolid International Film Festival 2024 Best Documentary A Fidai Film Visions du Réel 2024 Burning Lights Jury AwardA Fidai Film Yerevan International Film Festival 2024 Regional PanoramaA Fidai Film
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