Amer Hlehel

A Palestinian actor, playwright and director based in Haifa. His work carries Palestinian stories, in Arabic and in English, from local stages to leading theatres and film festivals around the world.

Writing. His solo play Taha, developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, won Best Production at the Asian Arts Awards in Edinburgh in 2017. He has performed it more than 300 times in over 15 countries. His other plays include I Am from There, an autobiographical solo piece; Hoota, staged at Riksteatern in Sweden; Cousins, commissioned by Riksteatern; the musical The Masters of Tarab; The Publisher; What the Story Is All About; the cabaret The Reel Time; and Lanterns of the King of Galilee, an adaptation of the novel by Ibrahim Nasrallah. He also wrote the lyrics for Maryam, an album with composer Faraj Suleiman.

Stage. Hlehel played Caliban in David Farr's production of The Tempest at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, and Abu Altayib in Goats at the Royal Court Theatre in London. At the Young Vic he played Yusuf in Amir Nizar Zuabi's I Am Yusuf and This Is My Brother and The Soldier in Kafka's In the Penal Colony. His other roles include Truffaldino in A Servant of Two Masters, Dr. Roberto Miranda in Death and the Maiden, Enkidu in Gilgamesh Didn't Die, and Diab in Diab, which won him Best Actor and Best Solo Performance at the Masraheed Festival in Acre in 2005.

Film. He appears in Kaouther Ben Hania's The Voice of Hind Rajab, winner of the Silver Lion at the 2025 Venice Film Festival and nominated for the Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe. His other films include Hany Abu Assad's Golden Globe winner Paradise Now and The Idol; Maha Haj's Mediterranean Fever, winner of Best Screenplay in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2022, as well as her Personal Affairs and Upshot; Firas Khoury's Alam; Sameh Zoabi's Tel Aviv on Fire; Elia Suleiman's The Time That Remains; and Cherien Dabis's Amreeka. 

Directing and Leadership. Hlehel directs for stage and screen. His productions include The Reel Time, What the Story Is All About, Breaking News, Finding the Dream, Thanks, Altagreeba and the video work Prayer. He has served as artistic director of Almidan Theatre in Haifa. He one of the founders of the theatre group “Sheber Hurr” . He is an alumnus of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program and trained with Peter Brook in Paris.