| Maroun Bagdadi | |
| Birth Date: | January 21, 1950 |
| Birth Place: | Lebanon |
| Death Place: | Lebanon |
| Occupation: | Film director |
| Spouse: | Soraya Khoury |
| Children: | 3 |
Maroun Bagdadi (also Baghdadi; Arabic: مارون بغدادي, ; January 21, 1950 – December 10, 1993) was a Lebanese film director known for his vivid portrayal of Lebanon's civil war. Bagdadi was internationally the best-known Lebanese filmmaker of his generation. He worked with American producer/director Francis Coppola and made several films in French that became hits in France.[1]
Maroun Bagdadi was arguably Lebanon's most prominent filmmaker, one whose work has been seen all over the world. One of his best-known films, Houroub Saghira (Little Wars), was shown at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, drawing this comment from a prominent film critic: "To make a film about Beirut that eschews polemics for more universal, more human issues is an achievement." His first Lebanese production was for television, an educational program called 7½. In 1975, he directed his first feature film, Beyrouth Ya Beyrouth. Koullouna Lil Watan, a 75-minute documentary produced in 1979, won the Jury Honor Prize at the International Leipzig Festival Documentary and Animated Film.[2]
Bagdadi died on December 10, 1993, aged 43, allegedly after an accidental fall down an elevator shaft at his home in Beirut.[3]
He was survived by his wife, Soraya, whose acting career continues as of 2017,[4] and their three children.