- - Palestinian “Homeland” actor and star of Oscar-shortlisted film, Mohammad Bakri, dies weeks before nominations announced

Joey NolfiDecember 26, 2025 at 4:08 AM

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Sifeddine Elamine / Showtime / Courtesy Everett Collection

Mohammad Bakri in 'Homeland' season 8Key Points -

Mohammad Bakri, a Palestinian filmmaker known for the 2003 documentary Jenin, Jenin, has died.

As an actor, Bakri appeared in seven episodes of Homeland season 8.

Bakri's family revealed his cause of death in a statement.

Palestinian filmmaker, Homeland actor, and star of the Oscar-shortlisted film All That's Left of You, Mohammad Bakri — also known for his 2003 documentary Jenin, Jenin, highlighting West Bank destruction — has died at age 72.

According to several reports, including the and local news site Al-Jarmaq, Bakri died Dec. 24 at a hospital in the regional city of Nahariya, following reported heart and lung issues.

Bakri's death falls weeks before the Jan. 22 Oscar nominations announcement, after one of his final on-screen projects, the film All That's Left of You, was recently shortlisted by the Academy for a potential Best International Feature nomination on behalf of Jordan.

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Palestinian filmmaker Mohammad Bakri at the Cannes Film Festival

Though he continuously worked to highlight Palestinian life in film, including the aforementioned Jenin, Jenin, Bakri's work often stirred controversy in Israel. Jenin, Jenin was banned in Israel, and Bakri was ordered by the Israel's Supreme Court in 2022 to pay tens of thousands of dollars after the group found that the film was defamatory to an Israeli military officer.

Outside of other appearances in films and TV projects like the 2022 Cannes Film Festival hit Boy From Heaven, The Cup Final, Haifa, HBO's The Night Of, and the Michael Keaton-starring thriller American Assassin, Bakri had a multi-episode arc on the final season of Showtime's Emmy-winning drama series Homeland in 2020.

Opposite Claire Danes, Bakri portrayed the vice president of Afghanistan, Abdu Qadir G’ulom, across seven episodes of season 8, before the show aired its series finale later in 2020.

In addition to making his own films and starring as Palestinian characters in other on-camera projects, Bakri acted on stage in 1986 at the Al-Qasaba Theatre in Ramallah, where he launched a solo show, Bakri's Monologue, which adapted Palestinian writer Emile Habibi's book The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist. The project explored the inner life of a person living with both Israeli and Palestinian identities.

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Mohammad Bakri at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival

According to the , Bakri's cousin, Rafic, highlighted his family member's enduring support for Palestinians in a statement following the star's death.

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“I am certain that Abu Saleh will remain in the memory of Palestinian people everywhere and all people of the free world,” he said, referencing Bakri by using a nickname.

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