Born in Israel to an Italian mother and Libyan father, Liel Maghen has spent years exploring his identity, which has led him to his active involvement in peace building activities in the Middle East. After co-directing the Israel/Palestine Centre for Research and Information (IPCRI), a partnership-building NGO and think tank, he co-founded Elham – the Day After, bringing together Israeli and Palestinian artists to sow seeds of hope in a shared future. Maghen also acts as a consultant on programmes across the Middle East promoting community building, intercultural dialogue and non-violent communication. In 2022, he was awarded the IIE Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East. He is currently making his first feature-length documentary focused on political imagination as a method to inspire hope in the war-torn region.