Dina Najjar
- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Dina Najjar is an award-winning actor and filmmaker. She is a first-generation Arab American (Palestinian/Jordanian) born on 8 Mile to immigrant parents. She speaks fluent Arabic, belly dances, and proudly represents her culture. Dina is your real-life Princess Jasmine with an edge.
Some of the roles she's proudest of include: playing Maya, a Syrian refugee searching for her place in America, in the short film "Maya" which earned her the Best Actress Award at the 2018 University of Miami Canes Film Festival; recurring as alluring assassin Nadja Shah in season 2 of "The Family Business" on BET and Netflix (debuted in the top 10); playing Dr. Dulce, a pediatric dentist who loves talking about teeth in Nickelodeon's Noggin Knows; and portraying troubled, rideshare passenger, Raven, in the mumblecore film "The Christmas Ride" streaming on Prime Video for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the 2020 Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival.
Her mission as an artist is to bring diversity without stereotypes to the screen and stage and to tell important stories that inspire, empower, and include while always leaving the viewer with a sense of hope. She strives to portray and write interesting and multifaceted female characters who overcome adversity and trauma while infusing it with humor. And most importantly, her goal is to give a voice to Palestinian and Arab stories that humanize them instead of capitalizing on their trauma.
Some of the roles she's proudest of include: playing Maya, a Syrian refugee searching for her place in America, in the short film "Maya" which earned her the Best Actress Award at the 2018 University of Miami Canes Film Festival; recurring as alluring assassin Nadja Shah in season 2 of "The Family Business" on BET and Netflix (debuted in the top 10); playing Dr. Dulce, a pediatric dentist who loves talking about teeth in Nickelodeon's Noggin Knows; and portraying troubled, rideshare passenger, Raven, in the mumblecore film "The Christmas Ride" streaming on Prime Video for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the 2020 Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival.
Her mission as an artist is to bring diversity without stereotypes to the screen and stage and to tell important stories that inspire, empower, and include while always leaving the viewer with a sense of hope. She strives to portray and write interesting and multifaceted female characters who overcome adversity and trauma while infusing it with humor. And most importantly, her goal is to give a voice to Palestinian and Arab stories that humanize them instead of capitalizing on their trauma.