Filmmakers Maryam Touzani, Amjad Al Rasheed, Nayla Al Khaja and Meshal Al Jaser. EPA; Getty Images; AFP
Filmmakers Maryam Touzani, Amjad Al Rasheed, Nayla Al Khaja and Meshal Al Jaser. EPA; Getty Images; AFP
Filmmakers Maryam Touzani, Amjad Al Rasheed, Nayla Al Khaja and Meshal Al Jaser. EPA; Getty Images; AFP
Filmmakers Maryam Touzani, Amjad Al Rasheed, Nayla Al Khaja and Meshal Al Jaser. EPA; Getty Images; AFP

The 15 breakout Arab filmmakers of 2024


William Mullally
  • English
  • Arabic

For the first time in history, Arab cinema is thriving in every corner of the Middle East and North Africa. With the emergence of Saudi Arabia as a formidable creative force and international platforms such as Netflix partnering more closely with local filmmakers, the world is taking notice of the region's talent like never before.

And while seasoned luminaries such as Kaouther Ben Hania and Mohamed Diab continue to draw global acclaim, it is the region's emerging talent that is setting the course for the future of the art form.

Offering up box office powerhouses and award-season contenders, these are the filmmakers to keep on your radar for 2024 when their acclaimed and anticipated star-making films will reach audiences in the region and around the world.

Ali Kalthami

Saudi Arabia

Saudi writer, director and producer Ali Kalthami has recently made his directorial debut with Mandoob. Photo: Norman Wong
Saudi writer, director and producer Ali Kalthami has recently made his directorial debut with Mandoob. Photo: Norman Wong

It’s hard to overstate the influence that the Saudi writer, director and producer has had on the kingdom’s burgeoning film and television scene. After all, Telfaz11, the Saudi production company that he cofounded in 2011, helped shape an entire generation’s tastes, as the country’s youth turned to YouTube for original local content before cinemas opened in 2018.

Over the past year, the filmmaker, 40, took his career to the next level, not only shepherding one of his long-running web series Alkhallat into a successful Netflix original film, Alkhallat+, in February, but also making his directorial debut with Mandoob, a neo-noir movie about a desperate night courier who starts selling contraband to pay for his sick father’s medical care.

Mandoob has become an instant hit in Saudi Arabia, earning a record opening for a local film in mid-December, with an international release to follow in 2024 which sets the stage for more art house Saudi blockbusters to come.

Mohamed Kordofani

Sudan

Sudanese filmmaker Mohamed Kordofani's feature Goodbye Julia was submitted to the 2024 Academy Awards. Photo: Mohamed Kordofani
Sudanese filmmaker Mohamed Kordofani's feature Goodbye Julia was submitted to the 2024 Academy Awards. Photo: Mohamed Kordofani

With his debut feature Goodbye Julia, Kordofani has firmly established himself as one of the most significant chroniclers of modern Sudanese society, earning the first Freedom Prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in May before his film became a surprise box office hit across the region in December. An expanded international release is planned for 2024.

The film’s story, which follows three characters in Sudan's capital Khartoum, is a powerful critique of the racism that divided the country in two, while also being accessible and open-hearted enough to both bring in new audiences to the region’s art house scene and sidestep controversy.

While the current dire situation in Sudan may have affected the immediate future of his newly established production house, Kordofani is still working to share the untold stories of his home any way he can.

Farah Nabulsi

Palestine

British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi received an Oscar nomination for short The Present in 2020. Photo: Farah Nabulsi
British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi received an Oscar nomination for short The Present in 2020. Photo: Farah Nabulsi

While it was Farah Nabulsi’s Oscar-nominated, Bafta-winning 2020 short The Present that first put her on the radar of the international film community and beyond, it is her feature debut The Teacher – set for a Middle East cinema release in February – that cements her as one of the region’s brightest talents, not to mention one of the most significant artistic advocates for the Palestinian people.

The Present tells a simple story of a man working his way through West Bank checkpoints with his daughter to deliver a birthday gift to his wife. Meanwhile, Nabulsi’s follow-up is a richer, more nuanced work. Here, in the film that won the coveted Jury Prize at the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival in December, there are no heroes, and the biggest question is left for the audience to answer: What would you do if you were trapped in these circumstances?

Amjad Al Rasheed

Jordan

Inshallah A Boy was directed by Jordanian filmmaker Amjad Al Rasheed. Photo: The Imaginarium Films
Inshallah A Boy was directed by Jordanian filmmaker Amjad Al Rasheed. Photo: The Imaginarium Films

Jordanian filmmaker Amjad Al Rasheed got the world talking in May when his debut feature Inshallah a Boy became the first movie from the country to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, before going on to win both the Gan Foundation Award and the Rail d’Or Award for Best Feature Film.

Al Rasheed, 38, however, would rather not keep the spotlight on himself. His aim was for the film to shine a light on the injustice endured by women in his home country.

Inspired by stories told to him by relatives, the film follows a young woman who is forced to pretend she’s pregnant to prevent her home being given away after her husband’s death.

Inshallah a Boy has picked up awards around the world since its premiere, and Al Rasheed’s clear-eyed moral righteousness puts him on a pathway to many more stories that will get the world talking.

A regional theatrical release of the film is expected in 2024.

Maryam Touzani

Morocco

Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani's second feature The Blue Caftan had a record-breaking global box office run. Getty Images
Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani's second feature The Blue Caftan had a record-breaking global box office run. Getty Images

After an award-winning premiere at Cannes in 2022, The Blue Caftan – the second feature by Moroccan filmmaker and actress Maryam Touzani – made its mark multiple times in the past year. It became the first Moroccan film to be shortlisted for an Academy Award and was then followed up with a record-breaking global box office run.

Starring Saleh Bakri, the film sold the most tickets overseas of any Moroccan film in recent history, according to French promotional organisation Unifrance, and received more than 45 awards on the global festival circuit.

Touzani's first film, Adam, put her in the conversation. Her second effort elevated her to a global force for regional film. Touda, a film she’s co-written with her husband Nabil Ayouch, himself the director of the acclaimed 2021 film Casablanca Beats, is expected to be released in 2024.

Ibrahim Alkhairallah

Saudi Arabia

Ibrahim Alkhairallah was a celebrated comedian with a global Netflix special before he entered the world of film. Photo: Telfaz11
Ibrahim Alkhairallah was a celebrated comedian with a global Netflix special before he entered the world of film. Photo: Telfaz11

A fellow Telfaz11 cofounder, Alkhairallah made history this year when Sattar, a wrestling comedy in which he stars alongside Saudi actor Ibrahim Al-Hajjaj, became not only the highest-grossing Saudi film ever, but the third biggest ticket seller since Saudi Arabia reopened cinemas, behind only Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick.

The first release of his newly founded production company AlShimaisi Films – named after the street in Riyadh where he purchased bootleg DVDs growing up – Sattar has turned the international industry’s eyes to young Saudi filmmakers.

In addition to his starring role, in which Alkhairallah reprised one of his popular YouTube characters, he also wrote and produced the film, which will serve as a template for other hybrid comedies he is already planning. Several announcements are expected in 2024.

Tawfik Alzaidi

Saudi Arabia

Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi's debut feature Norah tells a story inspired by the kingdom’s past. Getty Images
Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi's debut feature Norah tells a story inspired by the kingdom’s past. Getty Images

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has become a flourishing home for artists in nearly every discipline, where creative opportunities can be found at every corner. In the decades before this cultural push, however, many artists had to abandon their dreams for more practical pursuits.

Norah, the debut feature of Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi, tells one such story inspired by the kingdom’s past. It is about a teacher who moves to a small town to help children realise dreams that he will himself never reach.

It is the story of Alzaidi, too, who began his film journey in 2006 and now has an acclaimed film under his belt – a soulful work that sets the stage for great things to follow.

His next feature, an action adventure drama, will be called Thuraya. Shooting will begin in late 2024 as part of a multi-picture development deal with recently founded Saudi production company Red Palm Pictures, led by Former Universal Pictures executive Paul Chesney.

Omar Hilal

Egypt

Omar Hilal created Voy! Voy! Voy! in collaboration with Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Vox Cinemas and Film Clinic. Photo: Film Clinic
Omar Hilal created Voy! Voy! Voy! in collaboration with Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Vox Cinemas and Film Clinic. Photo: Film Clinic

While Egypt has long had the region’s most prolific film industry, the country has never produced a film quite like Voy! Voy! Voy!, the first movie directed by Omar Hilal.

The first co-production from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Vox Cinemas and Film Clinic, the film follows an impoverished security guard who pretends to be blind to join a football team for the visually impaired so that he can escape his circumstances to Europe.

Equal parts uproarious and socially considered, Egypt’s 2024 Oscar submission may not have earned a spot on the shortlist, but it was a hit with audiences in the region, earning rave reviews and box office success ahead of an expected 2024 international release.

Hilal knows how to craft a crowd pleaser, and there’s surely plenty more where that came from.

Asmae El Moudir

Morocco

Asmae El Moudir’s documentary The Mother of All Lies is a powerful exploration of her roots and identity. Getty Images
Asmae El Moudir’s documentary The Mother of All Lies is a powerful exploration of her roots and identity. Getty Images

While Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir’s latest documentary The Mother of All Lies may not mark her debut (she released her first film The Postcard in 2020), it does mark her entrance to the world stage. It earned a coveted spot on the 2024 shortlist for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards following its Cannes premiere in May.

The deeply personal film, expected for a theatrical release in 2024, is a powerful exploration of her roots and identity, both as a Moroccan and a human being. In it, she discovers that a photograph she has had of herself since she was a child is not actually of her, causing her to turn into an amateur detective to solve the puzzle of her own family.

Whether she continues in documentaries or branches into fiction, she has certainly marked herself as a talent to follow.

Malik Nejer

Saudi Arabia

Malik Nejer had his live-action feature directorial debut on the Netflix original film Head to Head. Photo: Myrkott
Malik Nejer had his live-action feature directorial debut on the Netflix original film Head to Head. Photo: Myrkott

Simply put, Saudi filmmaker Malik Nejer is a pillar, along with his long-time creative partner Abdulaziz Almuzaini, of Saudi Arabia’s animation industry. The pair’s long-running series Masameer County has grown from YouTube sensation to Netflix hit and has helped shape the sense of humour of the kingdom’s youngest generation.

But it was Nejer’s live-action feature directorial debut in the Netflix original film Head to Head, which had its premiere on the platform in August, that proved he’s only begun to scratch his potential.

The offbeat film managed to hit the streaming site’s global top 10 list two weeks running – a first for a Saudi production. Nejer is set to follow that up with a yet-to-be-announced animated feature releasing in 2024, with plans to take a more grounded and personal approach in his future live-action ventures separate from his long-time partner.

Abdulaziz Almuzaini

Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz Almuzaini has a newly founded live-action production firm called Sirb Productions. Photo: Myrkott
Abdulaziz Almuzaini has a newly founded live-action production firm called Sirb Productions. Photo: Myrkott

Abdulaziz Almuzaini has always been defined by his boundless energy and headfirst approach to creative endeavours. When he was still in high school, he landed a job as a cartoonist at a prominent newspaper despite never having drawn a cartoon, and grew into one of the most popular satirists in Saudi Arabia.

While animation has long been his trade and more such projects with his collaborator Nejer are in the works, Almuzaini is following up the success of Head to Head by quietly writing one original script after another that he will then produce at his newly founded live-action production firm Sirb Productions. Several announcements are set for 2024.

Bassel Ghandour

Jordan

Bassel Ghandour is now hard at work on his next feature, which he promises will raise the stakes. Photo: Bassel Ghandour
Bassel Ghandour is now hard at work on his next feature, which he promises will raise the stakes. Photo: Bassel Ghandour

Over the past year, no film was more hotly debated in the Levant than Bassel Ghandour’s The Alleys.

The feature debut of the man who wrote the acclaimed 2014 Jordanian film Theeb dives headfirst into Amman’s underbelly, creating a crime epic like the region had never seen, and proving he is equally skilled at directing as he is at writing.

While the controversy it created for its depiction of a flawed society may have made people give it a shot when it hit Netflix, it is the film’s quality that won it a legion of supporters.

Ghandour, currently living in London, is now hard at work on his next feature, which he promises will raise the stakes considerably, with an official announcement expected in 2024.

Meshal Al Jaser

Saudi Arabia

Meshal Al Jaser's new Netflix original film Naga had its premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. AFP
Meshal Al Jaser's new Netflix original film Naga had its premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. AFP

At 28 years old, Al Jaser may be younger than many of the other rising stars coming out of Saudi Arabia, but he is already one of the country’s most distinctive stylists.

With his 2020 short film Arabian Alien, he captured the region’s attention. With his new Netflix original film Naga, which had its premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, in the months before its global streaming release he generated a spirited conversation online.

The film sees the young director pulling out nearly all the tools in his toolbox to tell the story of a young woman stranded in the desert on a nightmarish adventure to get home, creating images unlike any in the region’s filmic history.

Nayla Al Khaja

UAE

Filmmaker Nayla Al Khaja has long served as one of the most prominent voices in Emirati cinema. Getty Images
Filmmaker Nayla Al Khaja has long served as one of the most prominent voices in Emirati cinema. Getty Images

For Nayla Al Khaja, the Red Sea Film Festival 2023 premiere of Three, her debut feature, was a long time coming. The trailblazing filmmaker has long served as one of the most prominent voices in Emirati cinema, a social advocate and prolific director of short films that date back to the mid 1990s.

Shot in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Bangkok, her psychological thriller follows a boy enduring a mental health crisis that his family believe is the result of a curse.

With a wide theatrical release in the GCC and Egypt set for February 1, Al Khaja’s film will surely be warmly embraced in the country’s film community, which has continually fought to get Emirati stories on the big screen in an evolving film landscape.

Khalid Fahad

Saudi Arabia

Valley Road, directed by Khalid Fahad, is the first family feature made in Saudi Arabia. Photo: Khalid Fahad
Valley Road, directed by Khalid Fahad, is the first family feature made in Saudi Arabia. Photo: Khalid Fahad

The Gulf’s film catalogue continues to broaden, with filmmakers each year venturing into genres that the region has never seen before. The 2023 release Valley Road, the debut feature of Saudi director Khalid Fahad, was one such milestone.

A Disney-inspired adventure film complete with original songs, digital effects and elaborate choreography, Valley Road is the first family feature made in Saudi Arabia, produced by Ithra, the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture based in Dharan.

In 2024, Fahad will follow that up with his first Netflix original film called From the Ashes, set to hit the platform on January 18. The tragic drama is based on true events, unravelling the story of a fire that started in an all-girls school.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Tips%20for%20holiday%20homeowners
%3Cp%3EThere%20are%20several%20factors%20for%20landlords%20to%20consider%20when%20preparing%20to%20establish%20a%20holiday%20home%3A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Cstrong%3ERevenue%20potential%20of%20the%20unit%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20location%2C%20view%20and%20size%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Cstrong%3EDesign%3A%20furnished%20or%20unfurnished.%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Is%20the%20design%20up%20to%20standard%2C%20while%20being%20catchy%20at%20the%20same%20time%3F%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Cstrong%3EBusiness%20model%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20will%20it%20be%20managed%20by%20a%20professional%20operator%20or%20directly%20by%20the%20owner%2C%20how%20often%20does%20the%20owner%20wants%20to%20use%20it%20for%20personal%20reasons%3F%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuality%20of%20the%20operator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20guest%20reviews%2C%20customer%20experience%20management%2C%20application%20of%20technology%2C%20average%20utilisation%2C%20scope%20of%20services%20rendered%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%20Adam%20Nowak%2C%20managing%20director%20of%20Ultimate%20Stay%20Vacation%20Homes%20Rental%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO

Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')

Fulham 0

Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)

Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)

if you go

The flights

Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return. 

The trek

Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required. 

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Lamsa

Founder: Badr Ward

Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm

Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km

Price: from Dh94,900

On sale: now

WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

Updated: January 04, 2024, 9:35 AM`