Clara Khoury

Clara Khoury (, ; born 29 December 1976) is an Arab Israeli actress of Palestinian Christian origin. She works in film, television and theater.
Biography.
Clara Khoury was born in Haifa. She is the daughter of the award-winning actor Makram Khoury. Her family is Greek Orthodox. She studied cinema at the Open University in Tel Aviv and drama at the Beit Zvi acting school. She is married to Sean Foley, an American with Irish and Egyptian roots.
Acting career.
Khoury has worked in a variety of roles on stage including the lead in "Antigone" by Jean Anouih, "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams and "Salome" by Oscar Wilde, in Arabic as well as in Hebrew and English. Her television work includes the series "Parashat Hashavua", written by Ari Folman, and "Arab Labor" written by Sayed Kashua. She made her big screen debut in 2002 in "Rana’s Wedding" by Hany Abu-Assad (director of the Oscar-nominated "Paradise Now") which premiered at the Semaine Internationale de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2005 she gained international recognition for her role in "The Syrian Bride", portraying a young Druze woman who risks losing her family by entering an arranged marriage with a Syrian national. Directed by Eran Riklis ("Lemon Tree") the film won the Audience Prize at the Locarno Film Festival.
Khoury starred in "Lipstikka", a British / Israeli psychological drama by Jonathan Sagall, in competition at the Berlinale 2011. At the Al-Midan Arabic Theater in Haifa she starred in Juliano Mer-Khamis's adaptation of Roman Polanski's 1994 movie "Death and The Maiden" after the play by Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman.
Awards and recognition.
Khoury won the Israeli Academy of Film and Television prize for best actress as Bushra in the television sitcom "Arab Labor". She won the Best Actress Award for her role as Rana at the Marrakech International Film Festival.