Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Clara Khoury is a Palestinian actress, born into a Palestinian Christian family.
Clara works in film, television and theater, acting in Arabic, Hebrew, English and French.
The daughter of the well-known actor Makram J. Khoury, Clara studied cinema at Tel Aviv’s Open University and drama at the Bet-Tsvi School of Drama. She has worked in a variety of roles on stage including the lead in Antigone by Jean Anouih, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and Salome by Oscar Wilde, playing in both Arabic and Hebrew and English.
A household name in Israel and in Palestine, her most recent television work includes the series Parashat Hasavua, written by Ari Folman, director of the Oscar-nominated Waltz With Bashir and the cutting edge, hard hitting Avoda Aravit (Arab Labor) written by Sayed Kashua.
She made her big screen debut in 2002 in the film Rana’s Wedding by Hany Abu-Assad (director of the Oscar-nominated Paradise Now) which premiered at the Semaine Internationale de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to win her the Best Actress Award for her role as Rana at the Marrakech International Film Festival.
In 2005 she gained international recognition for her role in The Syrian Bride, prtraying a young Druze woman who risks losing her family by entering an arranged marriage with a Syrian national. Directed by Eran Riklis (Lemon Tree) the film won the coveted Audience Prize at the Locarno Film Festival.
Recently, Clara stars in Lipstikka, a British / Israeli psychological drama by Jonathan Sagall, in competition at the Berlinale 2011. At the Al-Midan Arabic Theater in Haifa she is starring in Juliano Mer Khamis's adaptation of Roman Polanski's 1994 movie Death and The Maiden after the play by Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman.
Khoury divides her life between Tel Aviv and London and when not working in front of the camera or on stage she teaches drama in the West Bank.
Source
Achievements and Awards
Film:
Lipstikka - (2011) by Jonathan Sagall
Dusty Road - (2009) Rukaya Sabbah
Body of Lies - (2008) Ridley Scott
Liebesleben - (2007) Maria Schrader
Forgiveness[5] - (2006) Udi Aloni
The Syrian Bride - (2004) Eran Riklis
Rana's Wedding - (2002) Hany Abu-Assad
Theater:
Death and the Maiden -- Paulina - (2010) Juliano Mer-Khamis
Hebron, Khalil / Rania -- (2007) Oded Kotler
Period of Adjustment -- Isabel - (2006) Dedi Baron
Cruel and Tender -- Laela - (2005) Artor Cogan
Salome -- Salome - (2005) Ofira Hening
The Glass Menagerie -- Loura - (2004) Muneer Bakri
Gilgamesh, He is not Dead -- Houmbaba - (2003) Francois Abu-Salem
Anigone -- Antigone - (2002) Gedalia Beser
Tiger At The Gate -- Andromaque - (2002) Ido Riklin
Television:
Parashat Ha-Shavua - created by Anat Asulin, Rani Blair
Kavanot Tovot - director Uri Barbash
Arab Labor - written by Sayed Kashua
Maktub - director Avi Mussel
Papadizi - director Ori Sivan
The Police Man - director Ram Levi
- Years in active
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