Anticipation and an expected controversy await the screening of the movie “Amira”, starring Saba Mubarak and produced by scholar Moez Masoud, as the work was chosen for competition during the 5th edition of El Gouna Film Festival (Oct 14 to Oct 22).
Amira will also compete in the Orizzonti competition at the upcoming Venice International Film Festival running from September 1 until the 11th.
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Saba Mubarak expressed her happiness with the selection of Amira to compete in the Orizzonticompetition at the 78th Venice Film Festival and in its world premiere by publishing a picture of the film on her Instagram account. She commented: “I am very excited and happy about the world premiere of the movie Amira by my friend and director Mohamed Diab, and his participation in the Orizzonti competition at the 78th Venice Film Festival.”
Critics expect the work to provoke controversy because of its bold theme as the plot revolves around many issues related to Palestine through its heroine, Amira, a Palestinian teenager who was born through a microscopic insemination process after smuggling sperm from her father detained in an Israeli prison. She goes through difficult circumstances to find out the truth behind her identity.
Saba Mubarak is an actress of a special style, who enjoys playing difficult and diverse roles and sets many artistic dreams in front of her as goals for every artistic performance.
She is a Jordanian actress, producer, and humanitarian with a rich career in cinema, television, and theater across the Arab world. She has played Arab and Egyptian roles, such as in the three-part TV series “Tayea,” "Afrah al-Qubba," and "Hekayat Banat," and has achieved a large fan base in the Arab world.
Saba has also participated in international cinema appearing in two episodes of the Swedish series "Hamilton" in the role of an officer from the Palestine Liberation Organization.
In her youth, Mubarak joined the Faculty of Fine Arts at Yarmouk University, then switched to studying theater and directing. Her start in acting came with the Jordanian social series “Qamar and Sahar” in which she revealed her talent to the Arab audience.
As a producer, her Jordanian production company Pan East Media launched in 2011 and produced the 2014 TV series “Asphalt Collar,” a Bedouin historical drama series based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. It was broadcast during Ramadan 2014 on the Abu Dhabi channel.
In a short time, Saba will star in the feature debut of Jordanian director Zaid Abu Hamdan, “Daughters of Abdelrahman,” which is being produced by her company Pan East Media in association with LagoonieFilm Production. Sales and distribution for both films are being handled by MAD Solutions.
The Jordanian star has wide experience as a jury member at international film festivals. She was selected to be a jury member twice at the International Emmy Awards, and also at the Feature and Short Competitions in the Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden, as well as at the 38th Cairo International Film Festival. In 2018, she joined as a jury member at the Short Film Competition in the 2nd El Gouna Film Festival.
Throughout her career, Mubarak has won many awards at the Arab and international level, including the Best Actress Award at the Silk Road International Film Festival for her role in “The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul” that also won a staggering seven awards from international film festivals.
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As for her personal life, she was married to director Chaouki Mejeri, who recently died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 58. After a short marriage which produced her only child, Ammar, they divorced in 2004 but continued to have a friendly relationship.
As a result of an accumulation of emotional issues since childhood and difficulties later in life, she recently suffered from severe depression. She had to either evade the mental illness with medication or courageously deal with it directly.
In the end, she decided not to take medication, but to confront the disease with specific exercises, to understand herself more, to avoid the topics that lead to despair and sadness, and to embrace the support she received from her family and her son.
Saba recently graced the cover of Marie Claire Arabia wearing a selection from Gucci’s Pre-Fall 2021 collection.
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