Annemarie Jacir is following up her 2017 Oscar hopeful “Wajib” with a project on the small screen. The Palestinian filmmaker is developing a TV series based on Susan Abulhawa’s bestselling novel “Mornings in Jenin,” Variety reports.
Published in 2o13, “Mornings in Jenin” tells the story of the “Abulheja family — Yehya and Basima and their two sons — who are forced to leave their homestead in Palestine by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948 and follows them through half a century of trials and tribulations in five countries.”
According to Variety, the TV series “is being developed with funding from the Doha Film Institute (DFI), which on Monday announced the 39 projects receiving its spring grants, 16 of which are directed by women.”
Palestine has submitted three of Jacir’s films in the International Feature Film category, formerly known as the Best Foreign Language Film category: “Salt of the Sea,” “When I Saw You,” and “Wajib.”
“The worst advice I ever received was being told I had to choose between being a mother and being a director and that it was impossible to be both,” Jacir told us in a 2017 interview. When we asked her advice for other women directors she said, “Trust your gut. It’s all there. Everything is right there.”