[2] Leila Sansour was born in Moscow on 16 February 1966,[3] to a Palestinian father and a Russian mother.

She began her film work in television and produced the series Cultural Portraits for Al Jazeera, featuring profiles of prominent Arabs who had made a significant world contribution in the arts, science or politics.

Her most recent work is the film and awareness campaign Open Bethlehem.

The campaign also works to develop a network of passionate ambassadors for the city through the Bethlehem Passport Program.

[8] Sansour married the English writer Nicholas Blincoe, having met while studying at Warwick.