Usaima yousef: Success after success

Actress Usaima Yousef plays the role of Hilda in the highly-anticipated new drama In the Presence of Absence, which depicts the life of the internationally renowned poet, Mahmoud Darwish. Usaima plays the role of Dr. Anis Alsayegh’s wife, a Christian originally from Amman but residing in Lebanon, graduated from the University of Cambridge. Her character “Hilda,” who she met in real life in Beirut prior to filming the drama, supports her husband’s mission of defending the Palestinian case and stays by his side until his death (which happened in reality last Christmas). In their meeting, Hilda tells Usaima about herself and her husband, detailing the latter part of his life where she would read to him and write on his behalf, as he remained devoted to his life’s mission of fighting for the Palestinian people. The drama was written by Hasan M. Yousef, produced by Firas Ibrahim, and directed by Najdat Anzur. It will be broadcast this Ramadan.  This is not the first time that Usaima has collaborated with producer Firas Ibrahim; they previously worked together on the drama “Stars between the clouds.” She describes Ibrahim as a “work hero” , saying her experience with him had been “powerful”. As for working with director Anzur she comments, “my role in this drama is satisfying enough, because at least Najdat believes in me and has asked me to work with him on another drama this year called ‘Chiffon’.” The actress’s career took off in 2005 where she mastered the lead role in three dramas, after which she took a brief hiatus, only now re-emerging into the spotlight