Arab Filmmakers You need to keep an eye on in 2025

As the global appetite for authentic, diverse stories continues to grow, Arab filmmakers are stepping into the spotlight with bold, emotionally resonant works that challenge, inspire, and redefine cinema. From Cannes to the Oscars, directors across the Arab world are earning acclaim and paving new paths in both narrative and documentary film. Here are ten Arab filmmakers you should be following in 2025:

Ammar Albeik

Ammar al-Beik, an award-winning Syrian filmmaker and photographer born in Damascus in 1972, is a leading figure in experimental Syrian cinema. His work has been featured at major festivals like Venice and Berlin, and exhibited in museums across New York, Paris, Seoul, and Tokyo. Now based in Berlin, after time in Beirut and Dubai, al-Beik explores themes of Syrian identity, political unrest, and exile. His poetic and political style captures both renowned cultural figures and unsung individuals, reflecting a deeply humanistic and personal vision.

Nujoom Alghanem

Nujoom Alghanem is an Emirati poet, artist, scriptwriter, and award-winning filmmaker born in Dubai in 1962. With eleven films to her name—including five short fictions and six feature-length documentaries—her work has earned recognition at local, regional, and international festivals. She holds an MA in Media Production from Griffith University (1999) and a BA in Video Production from Ohio University (1996). Alghanem began her career as a journalist in the 1980s and has since become a prominent cultural figure in the Arab world. She serves on the board of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction and has participated in numerous international film festival juries.

Iman Zawahry

Iman Zawahry is one of the first hijabi American-Muslim filmmakers. Her films have screened at over 150 venues globally. She produced Paperback alongside Moonlight’s Adele Romanski and Sundance alum Adam Bowers. An Emmy winner and Princess Grace Award recipient, she’s also a Lincoln Center and Sundance Momentum Fellow. Zawahry co-founded the first American Muslim film grant with the Islamic Scholarship Fund, where she now directs Film Programs.

Dina Amer

Egyptian filmmaker Dina Amer made a powerful debut with You Resemble Me, which was nominated at Venice and won the Audience Award at the Red Sea Film Festival. Backed by executive producers Spike Lee, Spike Jonze, and Riz Ahmed, the film quickly marked her as a rising talent.

Cherien Dabis

Palestinian director Cherien Dabis has been earning acclaim since her 2009 debut feature Amreeka. She received an Emmy nomination for the groundbreaking episode “The Boy From 6B” in Only Murders in the Building, told almost entirely without spoken dialogue from the perspective of a deaf character. If you’ve watched shows like Ramy, Ozark, or Little Voice, chances are you’ve already encountered her powerful work.

Morad Mostafaa

Morad, an Egyptian filmmaker born in Cairo in 1988, has built an impressive career in both short and feature films. He served as Executive Director on SOUAD, which was selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. A Berlinale Talents and Locarno Academy alumnus, he wrote and directed three short films, each selected by Clermont-Ferrand in consecutive years, screened at over 300 festivals, and received multiple awards. His latest short, I PROMISE YOU PARADISE, was part of Cannes Critics’ Week in 2023. Morad is currently developing his debut feature, Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore, through Cannes’ Cinéfondation residency and the Torino Film Lab.

Erige Sehiri

Erige Sehiri is a French-Tunisian director, producer, and former journalist known for blending documentary realism with narrative storytelling. She began her career with the acclaimed documentary Railway Men (2018), spotlighting Tunisian railway workers. Her 2022 debut feature, Under the Fig Trees, is a tender exploration of youth and labor in a rural orchard. The film premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, represented Tunisia at the 2023 Academy Awards, and screened globally in over twenty countries.

Outside of filmmaking, Sehiri champions freedom of expression and media literacy. She co-founded the media outlet INKYFADA and the NGO Al KHATT, and is a founding member of Rawiyat–Sisters in Film, a collective supporting women filmmakers across the Arab world and diaspora.

Mohamed Kordofani

Mohamed Kordofani is a Sudanese filmmaker from Khartoum, now based in Bahrain, who began as an aviation engineer before founding Kordofani Films in 2014. A self-taught director, he gained early acclaim with shorts like Gone for Gold, Nyerkuk, and Kejer’s Prison. His debut feature, Goodbye Julia (2023), became the first Sudanese film at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Prix de la Liberté. The film, exploring themes of racism and class in pre-separation Sudan, was also selected to represent Sudan at the 96th Academy Awards.

Kaouther Ben Hania

Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania is a two-time Oscar nominee whose work has earned widespread international acclaim. Her 2023 film Four Daughters competed in Cannes’ main competition, winning the prestigious l’Oeil d’Or and earning a 2024 Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary. In 2021, The Man Who Sold His Skin was nominated for Best International Feature at the Oscars and won Best Actor in Venice’s Horizons section. Her earlier films, including Beauty and the Dogs (Cannes 2017) and Challat of Tunis (Cannes ACID 2014), further established her global reputation. Her acclaimed documentaries and shorts, like Zaineb Hates the Snow and Wooden Hand, have also screened widely at festivals.

Amjad Al Rasheed

Award-winning Jordanian director and writer Amjad Al Rasheed is known for Inshallah A Boy (2023), the first Jordanian film ever to be selected at the Cannes Film Festival as part of the prestigious La Semaine de la Critique, where it won the Gan Foundation Award. His "masterful thriller", Inshallah A Boy, has been selected in over 60 international film festivals (Toronto TIFF, London BFI, Busan, Melbourne, Mumbai, AFI Fest, etc.) and received numerous awards, including Camerimage's Golden Frog for Best Director's Debut.

Abu Bakr Shawky

Abu Bakr Shawky is an Egyptian writer and director best known for his acclaimed film Yomeddine, which competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and won the François Chalais Award. The film was also Egypt’s official submission for the 91st Academy Awards. Shawky’s work includes Things I Heard on Wednesdays (2012), the series The Looming Tower (2018) and Hajjan (2023)

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