Hisham Zreiq


Hisham Zreiq, also spelled Zrake, is a Palestinian Christian of Israeli citizenship Independent filmmaker, poet and visual artist. He began working in computer art in 1994, and in 1996 started exhibiting his work in galleries and museums.
In 2007 he filmed his first documentary, The Sons of Eilaboun, and in 2008 he created the short film Just Another Day, dealing with the life of Arabs living in western world after September 11 terror attacks. He uses his poetry and visual art in his films, as in Just Another Day, and was a member of the Culture Unplugged film festival panel. In 2018 Zreiq contributed to the book An Oral History of the Palestinian Nakba by writing a chapter based on the interviews from his documentary The Sons of Eilaboun.

Early life

Zreiq was born in Nazareth, the son of Lydia Zreiq, an elementary school teacher, and Salem Zreiq, a history high school teacher; both were Palestinian Eastern Orthodox Christians. He has two sisters and two brothers. Zreiq is married and has one son.
Zreiq studied computer science and mathematics, and works as a software architect. In March 2001 he moved to Germany, where he lives and works.

Awards and honors

In 2004 Hisham Zreiq was one of the winners of the award "Kunst- und Förderpreis Sparkasse Bayreuth", and his work was exhibited at Kunst & Museum Hollfeld.
After the premiere screening of his first film "The Sons of Eilaboun" in Nazareth, Hisham Zreiq was honored by Ramiz Jaraisy, the mayor of Nazareth, and by Dr. Hana Sweid, an Israeli Arab politician and member of Knesset from Eilaboun. Ramiz Jaraisy described the film as an important work which tells the Palestinian story in a contrast with the dominant Israeli version. His film won the Al-Awda award in Palestine 2008, and in April 2012 Hisham Zreiq was chosen to be the artist of the month in the magazine '.
His films were screened in several festivals and events, such as:
the mayor of Nazareth and Dr. Hana Sweid a Knesset member
Some of Zreiq's works were featured in the book '''

Non-film activities

Zreiq is a software architect and learned his trade in Israel at the Technion and Haifa University, and worked for almost 10 years in Israel in hi-tech companies.