In Memoriam: Bushra Azzouz
Bushra Azzouz
February 13, 1954 – June 13, 2019
Born In Mosul, Iraq, daughter of Najib and Yvette Azzouz, Bushra grew up in Lebanon, moved to the United States, and attended Reed College, where she majored in Theater. Later, she earned a masters degree at San Francisco State University with a focus on documentary film production. Her films include “And Woman Wove it in a Basket”, a portrait of Native American basket weaver Nettie Jackson, “No News”, a personal reflection on the events of 9-11, “Women of Cyprus” a study of Cypriot women seeking to reunify their war-torn island, and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Prison”, an ongoing project portraying a production of Shakespeare’s play by prisoners at the Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla Oregon. Bushra taught for decades as a lead faculty member at the Northwest Film Study Center.
Throughout her personal life and in her films, Bushra devoted herself to supporting and giving voice to the unheard, the marginalized and the powerless. She worked on projects connected to community media, organic food production, indigenous land rights in Borneo, children and homeless youth. She trained hundreds of aspiring filmmakers who remember her with heartfelt devotion and gratitude. Those close to her will never forget her fiery intelligence, her spontaneous playful sense of fun and adventure, her generosity and loving spirituality, and the charming leisure with which she savored the beauties of life on earth.
She is survived by her husband and companion of 20 years, Andy Larkin, by her two younger brothers, Bashar and Haydar, by her Portland cousin Aysha Ghazoul, and by a far-flung extended family in America, Canada, Europe and Egypt. A private family memorial will be held August 24, in Washington D.C. A local memorial for her immediate family and community of friends will be held later in the year.
A special note from Johnny Stallings:
On Thursday morning, our beloved Bushra Azzouz died peacefully in her sleep.
Bushra has been my close friend for more than 30 years. She was one of the original board members of Open Hearts Open Minds. In 2010, she filmed our production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Two Rivers prison. She has continued to be an active volunteer there until very recently. For many of our plays there, she took photographs of the men in their costumes and with their families.
Bushra taught at the Northwest Film Center for many years. She has touched the lives of many many people, including the next generation of filmmakers.
Bushra has been a big presence in my life. Now that I’m writing this email, I don’t know what to say. But I wanted to let you all know that she died, in case you hadn’t heard yet.
Bushra first got breast cancer about 17 years ago. It didn’t stop her from living a very full life. I think the ever-present awareness of her own mortality gave her a very keen sense of the beauty of living her human life on earth. She was fun-loving, bold, wise, kind and generous.
Before she died, she made preparations for the film she has been working on for the past nine years to be completed.
Well, that’s about all I’ve got for now.
I loved her. I miss her.
I know that she will be missed by all of you who knew her.
May all beings be happy.
May we be peaceful and at ease.
May we live in love.
shāntih shāntih shāntih
Johnny