Born in Jerusalem in 1977, Enas Ibrahim al-Muthaffar has been drawn to the world of cinema since she was a child. Her father brought home every magazine that could reach Palestine, and she made sure to carefully study all of them. In elementary school, many girls called her Ghawar al-Tawsheh after she had played the role of the famous Syrian actor Duraid Lahham in Dayet Tishreen. Enas’ first experience in direction was a stage show on the occasion of the 1988 Palestinian National Declaration of Independence. And by then, Enas knew that she wanted to be a film director.

Her family was very supportive, and Enas joined the oldest film school in the Middle East in Cairo. She describes this experience as a “treasure.” Making several short films, she also had the chance to be on real film sets and meet her childhood heroes.

In the year 2000, Enas came back to Palestine. Following the outbreak of the second Intifada, Enas spent ten years working as a news producer for leading news outlets. In 2011, she worked for a prominent newspaper in covering Egypt’s revolution from Tahrir Square.

During her journey towards directing her first feature film in a largely male-dominated profession, she earned a master’s degree in feature film from the University of London. She directed a number of short films, including: East to West, A World Apart within 15 Minutes, OccupaZion, and Peek-a-Boo, which were shown in international film festivals in Switzerland, Tunisia, Italy, Canada, and elsewhere. She also worked on more than 20 Palestinian and international film productions, including Miral and two Oscar-nominated feature films: Paradise Now and Omar. In addition, she has mentored young aspiring Palestinian filmmakers in numerous filmmaking workshops.

Enas is a storyteller. She asserts that “there is no way I can separate my art from who I am, my love for cinema, and my determination to resist all that denies my people the right to live in freedom and dignity.”