Mohammad Bakri

Mohammad Bakri was born in 1953 in Bi'ina

Bakri was born on 27 November 1953 in the village of Bi'ina, to an Arab Muslim family. His father, Salah Bakri, headed the village council for Mapai. He attended elementary school in his village and high school in Akko.

His father wanted him to study medicine, but he chose acting. He studied theater at Tel Aviv University from 1973 to 1976.

He acted at the Haifa Theatre, Habima and later al-Kasaba Theatre in Ramallah, and performed one-man plays in Hebrew and Arabic. On screen he starred in Hanna K. in 1983 and Beyond the Walls in 1984. He also acted in films in several European countries and Canada.

After Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, he made Jenin, Jenin, based on testimony of residents of the Jenin refugee camp. The Israeli Film Board banned it, and the High Court of Justice overturned the ban. Five soldiers sued him over the film, and in July 2008 he was acquitted.

In 2015 he sought a place on the Hadash list without success. He was married to Leila and had 6 children, and his sons Adam, Ziad and Saleh are actors. He died of heart disease on 24 December 2025 and was buried in Bi'ina.