Hiam Abbass

Hiam Abbass

Birth : 1960-11-30, Nazareth, Israel

History

Hiam Abbass (born November 30, 1960), also known as Hiam Abbas or Hiyam Abbas, is a Palestinian actress. She is known for her roles in the films Satin Rouge (2002), Haifa (1996), Paradise Now (2005), The Syrian Bride (2004), Free Zone (2005), Dawn of the World (2008), The Visitor (2008), Lemon Tree (2008), and Amreeka (2009). She had a small role in Steven Spielberg's Munich, a film depicting the response to the Munich Massacre, where she also served as a dialect and acting consultant. She directed two short films, Le Pain (2001), La Danse éternelle (2004). She portrays humanitarian Hind al-Husseini in Julian Schnabel's film Miral (2010), based on the life of Husseini and her orphanage.

Profile

Hiam Abbass
Hiam Abbass
Hiam Abbass
Hiam Abbass
Hiam Abbass
Hiam Abbass
Hiam Abbass

Movies

Insidious: The Red Door
Professor Armagan
To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh Lambert and a college-aged Dalton Lambert must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family's dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.
Animalia
Itto, a young woman from a modest rural background, is slowly adapting to the Moroccan privileged codes of her husband’s family. But when supernatural events put the country in a state of emergency, Itto finds herself separated from her husband and new family. Alone, pregnant and looking for her way back, she finds emancipation.
Hellraiser
Menaker
A young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension.
Night
Mother (voice)
Night has to trick the mother of the missing child into sleeping to save her soul.
Gaza Mon Amour
Siham
Gaza, today. Sixty-year-old fisherman Issa is secretly in love with Siham, a woman who works at the market with her daughter Leila. When he discovers an ancient phallic statue of Apollo in his fishing nets, Issa hides it, not knowing what to do with this mysterious and potent treasure. Yet deep inside, he feels that this discovery will change his life forever. Strangely, his confidence starts to grow and eventually he decides to approach Siham.
Sofa So Good
In the streets of New York, a young woman is relentlessly, stubbornly and desperately looking for a sofa. This is a funny story with some touching moments about holding on and letting go.
The Swallows of Kabul
Mussarat (voice)
Summer 1998—Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the daily violence and misery, they hope for a better future. One day, a foolish gesture causes life to take an irrevocable turn.
Brother
Madame Miroun
Because he wanted to protect his little brother, Teddy, a young man without a history, is accused of the murder of his father and sent to a closed educational center, waiting for his trial for parricide. He then plunges into a brutal universe of which he does not know the rules.
In Vitro
Dunia
Decades after an eco-disaster engulfs the biblical city of Bethlehem, two scientists from different generations discuss memory, exile and nostalgia in this symbolic speculative fiction.
When Arabs Danced
Self
Writer, director, and journalist Jawad Rhalib presents a timely exploration of Muslim identity in relation to artistic expression and harmful stereotypes, through archival footage, interviews, and evocative performances.
Carnivores
Amel, la mère
At the dawn of her thirties, Mona tries relentlessly to take off as an actress. Time passes and proposals do not arrive. Short of resources, she is forced to move to Sam, her younger sister.
Blade Runner 2049
Freysa
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
In Syria
Oum Yazan
A mother attempts to keep her family safe as war rages and a sniper lies in wait outside her home.
I Still Hide to Smoke
Fatima
Α tragi-comedy about 9 women of different ages and various backgrounds that gather in an Algerian hammam to talk about their lives.
Dégradé
Eftikhar
A Palestinian comedy about women crammed in a tiny beauty parlor on the Gaza Strip
Nasser's Republic: The Making of Modern Egypt
Narrator
NASSER'S REPUBLIC: THE MAKING OF MODERN EGYPT is the first film for an American audience about Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the Arab world's most transformative leaders.
Foreign Body
Madame Bertaud
In the turbulent aftermath of the Tunisian revolution, young Samia flees her homeland. She braves hostile seas in the crossing to France, but once there she finds that her struggles have only just begun. With no friends, no family, and — most crucially — no immigration papers, Samia has to figure out how to make a life and a living in a foreign land. She meets a young man, Imed, and soon finds work in the employ of the elegant Leila. But her presence in Leila's middle-class household triggers a shift in its dynamics, and soon Samia is enmeshed in a web of sexual tension.
The Sense of Wonder
Mélanie Ferenza
Louise, a widow with two children, almost crushes a stranger with her car. She takes care of him, even if he's not really wounded. It turns out that he has mental disorders and that they can help each other much more than they thought.
Nothing Escapes My Eyes
Women
"Nothing Escapes My Eyes" is about a silent transformation of a place and a human being. Inspired by the texts of Edward W. Said, the poems of Mahmoud Darwish and Verdi’s opera Aida, the film depicts in a metaphoric form current issues of cultural identity, loss and the pressures to conform. With no dialogue, the film is backed by a musical excerpt from Aida whose lyrics express the difficulties of being loyal to one’s country and cultural identity. The personal and urban transformation tackles on issues of identity, loss and disorientation as a result of historical colonialism and contemporary globalization.
Keepers of the Covenant: Making 'Exodus: Gods and Kings'
Self
An in-depth documentary on the making of Ridley Scott's "Exodus: Gods and Kings," featuring interviews with the cast and crew. Featured in the Deluxe Edition Blu-ray set.
Exodus: Gods and Kings
Bithia
The defiant leader Moses rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, setting 400,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.
De guerre lasse
Raïssa
Alex, the son of a gang boss from Marseilles, joins the French Foreign Legion to avoid a hit put out on him by the Corsican Mafia. Four years later, Alex deserts and returns to Marseilles to get back together with Katia, his former girlfriend. But in the city, relationships have changed...
May in the Summer
Nadine
A bride-to-be is forced to reevaluate her life when she reunites with her family in Jordan and finds herself confronted with the aftermath of her parents’ divorce.
Peace After Marriage
Amani
Desperate for companionship, a lonely, young Palestinian-American man agrees to marry an Israeli woman in need of a Green Card, forcing them to re-examine their respective cultural and familial traditions.
Rock the Casbah
Aicha
The whole family is reunited when Sofia comes back for his father's funeral. Quickly, inner problems are revealed.
Games of Clouds and Rain
Blanche
Li Qin leaves her temperamental husband and unknowingly provides a trail for a detective who has been, for months, secretly devoted to her. In the wake of their one-way chase, a Chinese businessman wanders around town; two magicians attempt to overcome a crisis, and a waitress is desperate for stability. Some will find what they are looking for, some will find each other, and some simply will not.
Le Donne della Vucciria
Writer
In “Le Donne della Vucciria”, sixth Miu Miu Women’s Tale, Palestinian female director Hiam Abbass contemplates the transformative power of clothes, music and dance in a charming, evocative study of the women of the Sicilian city of Palermo.
Le Donne della Vucciria
Director
In “Le Donne della Vucciria”, sixth Miu Miu Women’s Tale, Palestinian female director Hiam Abbass contemplates the transformative power of clothes, music and dance in a charming, evocative study of the women of the Sicilian city of Palermo.
Inheritance
Writer
A Palestinian family living in the north of Galilee gathers to celebrate the wedding of one of their daughters, as war rages between Israel and Lebanon. Internal conflicts explode between the family - secrets are revealed and lies are unmasked. The battles between different family members become as merciless as the outside war once their father falls into a coma and inches toward death.
Inheritance
Samira
A Palestinian family living in the north of Galilee gathers to celebrate the wedding of one of their daughters, as war rages between Israel and Lebanon. Internal conflicts explode between the family - secrets are revealed and lies are unmasked. The battles between different family members become as merciless as the outside war once their father falls into a coma and inches toward death.
Inheritance
Director
A Palestinian family living in the north of Galilee gathers to celebrate the wedding of one of their daughters, as war rages between Israel and Lebanon. Internal conflicts explode between the family - secrets are revealed and lies are unmasked. The battles between different family members become as merciless as the outside war once their father falls into a coma and inches toward death.
Do Not Forget Me Istanbul
Several directors from countries of the region were invited to create stories taking place in and around the beautiful city of Istanbul, in the vein of “Paris, je t’aime” and “New York, I love you”. They come together to remind viewers that Istanbul’s history does not belong only to the people of Turkey.
Le sac de farine
Yasmine
Based on a true story, this beautifully-shot epic traces the life of Sarah, from her early years in a Catholic orphanage in 1970s Belgium, through her rebellious, poverty-stricken teens in a village in the Atlas mountains of Morocco.
The Source
Fatima
A comedy/drama set in a village and centered on a battle of the sexes, where women threaten to withhold sexual favours as long as the men refuse to install a water pipe.
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
Intessar
Tai is 17 years old. Naim is 20. She's Israeli. He's Palestinian. She lives in Jerusalem. He lives in Gaza. They were born in a land of scorched earth, where fathers bury their children. They must endure an explosive situation that is not of their choosing at an age where young people are falling in love and taking their place in adult life. A bottle thrown in the sea and a correspondence by email nurture the slender hope that their relationship might give them the strength to confront this harsh reality to grapple with it, and thereby ever so slightly change it. Only 60 miles separate them but how many bombings, check-points, sleepless nights and bloodstained days stand between them?
Miral
Hidi Husseini
A drama centered on an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war who finds herself drawn into the conflict.
On bosse ici! On vit ici! On reste ici!
Co-Director
Call for the regularization by the French government of all undocumented workers living in the country, a short film co-directed by 320 filmmakers and directors, producers, distributors and cinema owners.
Habibti
Iman
A veiled Arab woman, steeped in tradition, journeys to London to visit her estranged daughter only to find her living with a black boyfriend..
Everyday Is a Holiday
Hala
It's Independence Day in Lebanon: three women who've never met before are on the same bus heading to visit a prison situated in a remote area of the country. Traveling through an arid landscape littered with mines and decapitated dreams, the journey transforms into the women's quest for their own independence.
Persecution
Marie
The solitary Daniel and Sonia share an uneasy love/hate relationship. Daniel's life is disrupted by the appearance of a stranger that proceeds to insinuate himself in his life. The man's persistence takes its toll on Daniel and Sonia, leaving Daniel alone with nagging questions of "Why?"
Amreeka
Raghda Halaby
Eager to provide a better future for her son, Fadi, divorcée Muna Farah leaves her Palestinian homeland and takes up residence in rural Illinois -- just in time to encounter the domestic repercussions of America's disastrous war in Iraq. Now, the duo must reinvent their lives with some help from Muna's sister, Raghda, and brother-in-law, Nabeel.
Dawn of the World
Mastour's mother
The Mesopotamian Marshes, at the delta of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, in the south of Iraq. This is where Mastour and Zahra grow up. Shortly after their marriage, Mastour and Zahra are forced to separate when the Gulf War breaks out. On the battlefield, Mastour befriends Riad, a young soldier from Baghdad. Mortally wounded, Mastour makes Riad promise to protect Zahra when the war is over. When Riad arrives in the village, he falls deeply in love with Zahra. But unable to bear the loss of her husband, Zahra shuts herself off. In this completely foreign environment that is hostile to this newcomer, and as a new conflict is on the verge of inflaming the whole area, Riad will do the impossible to find his place.
The Limits of Control
The Driver
A mysterious stranger works outside the law and keeps his objectives hidden, trusting no one. While his demeanor is paradoxically focused and dreamlike all at once, he embarks on a journey that not only takes him across Spain, but also through his own consciousness.
Human Zoo
Mina
In Marseille, the young Serbian-Albanian Adria Shala is an illegal immigrant traumatized by her past. Every now and then Adria recalls her life in Kosovo, when she was saved from rape by a deserter called Srdjan Vasiljevic in 1999. They move to Belgrade where Srdjan becomes a gangster, dealing weapons and becoming an assassin. Adria learns how to shoot and helps Srdjan with his work at first, becoming his mistress later.
Al-mor wa al rumman
Umm Habib
A free spirited woman dancer, Kamar, finds herself the lonely wife of a prisoner, Zaid, and away from everything she loves until she returns to the dance, defying societys taboos. At the dance Kamar is confronted with Kais, a Palestinian returnee. Sparks fly between Kamar and Kais, creating more than a passionate, emotional dance for the both of them. Matters become even more complicated when Zaid's sentence is extended. Kamar's life is thrown into turmoil as she becomes increasingly attached to Kais, and caught in the midst of her desire to dance and breaking the family and society taboos of the prisoner's wife's role while life under occupation rages on.
Spy(ies)
Wafa
In London, an airport baggage handler is forced by French and British intelligence agents to seduce the wife of a businessman with ties to Syrian terrorists.
Kandisha
Mona Bendrissi
Shattered by the loss of her child, Nyla Jayde, a brilliant criminal defense attorney, takes on a case involving a 14th century Moroccan legend, a vengeful spirit named Kandisha.
Mateo Falcone
La madre / Mother
Corsica in the 19th century. An isolated farm at the edge of some scrub. Left to alone by his parents, Fortunato must deal with a fugitive who asks the boy to hide him in exchange for a gold coin. From then on, the boy finds himself caught up in a world of male violence.
The Wedding Guest
Jénane (Voice)
A Police Romance
Faty
In a small police station, Lieutenant Emilie Carange finds herself sexually attracted to Jamil Messaouden, a young rookie officer. When an old Algerian woman reports that she's seen drug dealers operating in the neighborhood, they find themselves in over their heads in an investigation. Night after night, Emilie's desire grows. The drug investigation gets out of hand and so does Emilie...
Minor Revelations
"The choice of each period is intimate, as each period awakens a particular emotion in me. This emotion reflects what is around me, not everyone is able to recognise it -- that is the risk I take. I think that this is good enough reason to make a film that will make visible small yet revealing things in differeent ways. I believe in tropisms and that is what interests me in this film." -- Marie Vermillard [taken from London Film Festival 2006 catalogue]
Lemon Tree
Selma Zidane
Salma Zidane, a widow, lives simply from her grove of lemon trees in the West Bank's occupied territory. The Israeli defence minister and his wife move next door, forcing the Secret Service to order the trees' removal for security. The stoic Salma seeks assistance from the Palestinian Authority, Israeli army, and a young attorney, Ziad Daud, who takes the case. In this allegory, does David stand a chance against Goliath?
The Feelings Factory
professeur Sterne
A successful woman searches for romance by speed dating in this drama. Eloise has a great job and a great education, but she's looking for love. Can a couple of minutes be the key to finding true love?
Blanche
La voisine
Chloé, a young baby sitter, must look after Blanche, the daughter of Agnes and François, for the first time. Once the couple has left, Chloé falls asleep in front of TV. When she wakes up, she is horrified to discover that the baby is no longer there.
Disengagement
Hiam
A political drama centered around Israel's pullout from the occupied Gaza strip, in which a French woman of Israeli origin comes to the Gaza Strip to find her long ago abandoned daughter.
The Visitor
Mouna Khalil
A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
Conversations with My Gardener
The gardener's wife
A successful artist, weary of Parisian life and on the verge of divorce, returns to the country to live in his childhood house. He needs someone to make a real vegetable garden again out of the wilderness it has become. The gardener happens to be a former schoolfriend. A warm, fruitful conversation starts between the two men.
The Nativity Story
Anna
Mary and Joseph make the hard journey to Bethlehem for a blessed event in this retelling of the Nativity story. This meticulously researched and visually lush adaptation of the biblical tale follows the pair on their arduous path to their arrival in a small village, where they find shelter in a quiet manger and Jesus is born.
Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest
Jenane (Voice)
Raised on tales of a Djinn fairy princess, Azur, a young Frenchman goes to North Africa in search of the sprite, only to discover that his close childhood friend, Asmar, an Arab youth whose mother raised both boys also seeks the genie.
Munich
Marie Claude Hamshari
During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack.
Paradise Now
Said's mother
Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
The Demon Stirs
Rim
Anne Cestac accepts the obvious: her husband Julien, in his forties, has fallen madly in love with another woman. Annoyed, Anne sets out to find potential lovers.
Sur les traces de Mélanie
Madeleine
Rachid learned of Mélanie's accidental death. He decides to follow in his footsteps by taking his friend's last walk again. That day, Mélanie had met her sister Madeleine, for a last face-to-face meeting. What happened? What will Rachid discover?
Free Zone
Leila
Rebecca, an American who has been living in Jerusalem for a few months now, has just broken off her engagement. She gets into a cab driven by Hanna, an Israeli. But Hanna is on her way to Jordan, to the Free Zone, to pick up a large of sum of money.
The Syrian Bride
Amal
In Majdal Shams, the largest Druze village in Golan Heights on the Israeli-Syrian border, the Druze bride Mona is engaged to get married with Tallel, a television comedian that works in the Revolution Studios in Damascus, Syria. They have never met each other because of the occupation of the area by Israel since 1967; when Mona moves to Syria, she will lose her undefined nationality and will never be allowed to return home. Mona's father Hammed is a political activist pro-Syria that is on probation by the Israeli government. His older son Hatten married a Russian woman eight years ago and was banished from Majdal Shams by the religious leaders and his father. His brother Marwan is a wolf trader that lives in Italy. His sister Amal has two teenager daughters and has the intention to join the university, but her marriage with Amin is in crisis. When the family gathers for Mona's wedding, an insane bureaucracy jeopardizes the ceremony.
Nadia and Sarra
Nadia
Nadia is a 45 year old female professor at the University of Tunis. She is married and has a daughter of 18, Sarra. For some time, Nadia has problems in her marriage also symptoms of menopause are inseparable. The physical and psychological state deteriorates inexorably Nadia.
The Gate of the Sun
Um Youness
Yousry Nasrallah's powerful adaptation of Lebanese writer Elias Khoury's epic novel of fifty years of Palestinian dispossession, exile, and resistance. The film follows the flight of Younes, his wife Nahila, and those around them, from their village in northern Palestine to a refugee camp in Lebanon. Some vow to continue the struggle, most simply struggle to survive. Unsparingly detailing the impact of the nakba (disaster) on Palestinian life and society and the refugees' often-contentious relationship with their reluctant Lebanese hosts, Gate of the Sun spans generations, mixing personal stories with historical events.
La Danse Éternelle
Writer
Saïd, seventy, has been demoralized by his wife’s illness which has left her hospitalized. He withdraws into solitude and writes poetry to express the infinite love he carries for his beloved.
La Danse Éternelle
Director
Saïd, seventy, has been demoralized by his wife’s illness which has left her hospitalized. He withdraws into solitude and writes poetry to express the infinite love he carries for his beloved.
Tar Angel
Naïma Kasmi
Newly-arrived Ahmed tries to integrate his family to the canadian society, while attempting to control his son's life orientation.
A Loving Father
Salma
Writer Léo Shepherd lives in rural France together with his daughter Virginia, who manages his affairs. One day Virginia gets a call from the Swedish Academy. Léo has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. His estranged son Paul tries desperately to contact him, but is denied every time by his sister. When Léo starts traveling to the ceremony in Stockholm by motor bike, Paul decides to follow him and try to speak to him. Clearly Léo doesn't want to be followed, starts speeding and gets involved in a accident, but isn't badly hurt. The police confuse another motorist for Shepherd and announce his death. Paul, driven by his childhood experiences, decides to kidnap his father.
Satin Rouge
Lilia
After the death of her husband, Lilia's life revolves solely around her teenage daughter, Salma. Whilst looking for Salma late one night, Lilia stumbles upon a belly dance cabaret and though initially reserved and taken aback by the culture of the place, Lilia gets consistently drawn back to it. She befriends one of the belly dancers and is encouraged into dancing for the audience. Lilia also starts a romance with one of the cabaret's musicians, who unbeknown to both of them, is also romancing Salma.
We Need a Vacation
La mère de Lucien et de José
It is the end of the school year for the children of a dormitory town. Most of them leave the place for a vacation with their parents but not Lucien and Adama whose parents can't afford the expense. While the big brothers of the housing estate are busy breaking the law Lulu and Adama manage to sneak into their neighbors' trailer. The two stowaways are elated until they reach their destination: a nudist camp...!
Bread
Writer
A mother living in the French countryside bicycles into town to buy a baguette for her family, and makes a dramatic discovery.
Bread
Director
A mother living in the French countryside bicycles into town to buy a baguette for her family, and makes a dramatic discovery.
Bread
A mother living in the French countryside bicycles into town to buy a baguette for her family, and makes a dramatic discovery.
Ali, Rabiaa and the Others
Rabiaa
In the 70s, Ali, Rabiaa, Driss, Abdellah and Hamid are a group of friends grow up in a heavy world of drugs, pop, politics ans sex. Rabiaa is a local girl whom they all share whenever the urge comes. Ali, accidentally kills a policeman and sent to prison. When he is released 20 years later, the group is just a memory. Ali relives the past and faces up the today's different reality with its disillusions ans responsibilities.
Vivre au paradis
Aïcha
Set in France in 1961-1962 during the Algerian War, Living in Paradise is a thought-provoking examination of the lives of North African immigrants trying to find a place in the social system of Western Europe.
When the Cat's Away
Une femme dans la cour
When Chloe, a young Parisian, decides to take a long-overdue vacation, she has to find someone to look after Gris-Gris, her beloved cat. Everyone, including her gay male roommate, refuses to help her, but she finally makes an arrangement with the elderly Madame Renée, who often watches over other peoples' cats and dogs. However, when Chloe comes back, Madame Renée tells her that unfortunately the cat has been lost, and the unlucky owner goes on a search for her dear animal friend. While looking for the cat, she meets many colorful characters who populate the neighborhood.
Haifa
Oum Said
Haifa, nicknamed after the city of his love and hope, goes around and comes around in a Palestinian refugee camp. Although he is everybody's fool, there are many things that only he knows. He is closely related to the family of Abu Said, a former policeman who gains new hopes from the political developments. Oum Said, his wife, hangs her hope on the imminent release of their eldest son, Said, from jail. She tries to find him a bride to secure things for the future. Their youngest son, Siad, is cynical and rebellious. He refuses to believe things. Sabah, the 12 year old daughter is romancing the future and wants to find out what's in it for her. The different stories are interwoven into a very timely insight into the current Palestinian mind.
Le Poisson rouge
Customer
Suzanne et Osmane