Hirokazu Kore-eda is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career in television and has since directed more than a dozen feature films, including Nobody Knows (2004), Still Walking (2008), and After the Storm (2016). He won the Jury Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival for Like Father, Like Son and won the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for Shoplifters.
Justin Lin is a Taiwanese-born American film director. His films have grossed US$2.3 billion worldwide as of March 2017. He is best known for his directorial work on Better Luck Tomorrow (2002), the Fast & Furious franchise from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) to Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and F9 (2021), and Star Trek Beyond (2016). He is also known for his work on television programs like Community, and the second season of True Detective.
Nadine Labaki is a Lebanese actress, director and activist. Labaki first came into the spotlight as an actress in the early 2000s. Her film-making career began in 2007 after the release of her debut film, Caramel, which premiered at the Cannes 2007 Film Festival. She is known for demonstrating everyday aspects of Lebanese life and covering a range of political issues such as war, poverty, and feminism. She is the first female Arab director to be nominated for an Oscar in the category for Best Foreign Language Film.
Philippe Aractingi is a film director and producer. He is known in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Although he was born in Beirut, Aractingi is Franco-Lebanese.
Cinema of Palestine is relatively young in comparison to Arab cinema as a whole. Palestinian films are not exclusively produced in Arabic and some are even produced in English, French and Hebrew. The films of Palestinian director Elia Suleiman are made with support from Europe and Israel.
The cinema of Lebanon, according to film critic and historian Roy Armes, is the only other cinema in the Arabic-speaking region, beside Egypt's, that could amount to a national cinema. Cinema in Lebanon has been in existence since the 1920s, and the country has produced more than 500 films.
Koutaiba Al-Janabi is a British-based Iraqi filmmaker, director and photographer. He was born in Baghdad. He filmed Wasteland: Between London and Baghdad and the 2010 award-winning film, Leaving Baghdad. He is a member of the Hungarian Society of Cinematographers.
Under the Bombs is a 2007 Lebanese drama film directed by Philippe Aractingi. The film is set in Lebanon at the end of the 2006 Lebanon War.
Nujoom Alghanem is an Emirati poet, artist and film director. She has published eight poetry collections and has directed more than twenty films. Alghanem is active in her community and is considered a well established writer and filmmaker in the Arab world. Her achievements in the arts have been recognized both nationally and internationally. She is the cofounder of Nahar Productions, a film production company based in Dubai. Currently she works as a professional mentor in filmmaking and creative writing, as well as a cultural and media consultant.
Twelve Angry Men is an American courtroom drama written by Reginald Rose concerning the jury of a homicide trial. It was broadcast initially as a television play in 1954. The following year it was adapted for the stage. It was adapted for a film of the same name, directed by Sidney Lumet and released in 1957. Since then it has been given numerous remakes, adaptations, and tributes.
The Abu Dhabi Film Festival, formerly the Middle East International Film Festival, was an international film festival which started in 2007. The event was held annually in October in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The ADFF aimed to showcase the best films from the region alongside standout productions from prominent international filmmakers. Since 2012, the festival had been part of the Abu Dhabi Media Zone Authority, specifically under Media Zone Events and powered by its partner company, twofour54. It was officially scrapped after eight versions in 2015.
Josh Fox is an American film director, playwright and environmental activist, best known for his Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning 2010 documentary, Gasland. He is one of the most prominent public opponents of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. He is the founder and artistic director of a film and theater company in New York City, International WOW, and has contributed as a journalist to Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, NowThis, AJ+ and Huffington Post.
Mashrou’ Leila is a Lebanese four-member indie rock band. The band formed in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2008 as a music workshop at the American University of Beirut. The band has released four studio albums: Mashrou' Leila (2009), Raasük (2013), Ibn El Leil (2015) and The Beirut School (2019); and an EP, El Hal Romancy (2011), while causing many controversies due to their satirical lyrics and themes.
Hiba Michel Tawaji is a Lebanese soprano coloratura singer, actress, and director. She played the main female role in some of the most well-known Rahbani musicals. She also participated in the fourth season of France's version of The Voice, in which she was coached by Mika. She sings in Arabic, English and French. After The Voice, she signed up with Mercury Records in 2015. On 30 May 2016, it was announced that Tawaji will join the cast of Notre-Dame de Paris as Esmeralda in the revival of the musical. She also has 4 Arabic musicals and 4 studio albums all produced by Oussama Rahbani.
Theatre in Lebanon has its origin in passion plays. The musical plays of Maroun Naccache from the mid-1800s are considered the birth of modern Arab theatre. Some scholars like Abdulatif Shararah divided theatre in Lebanon into three phases: translations of European plays, Arab nationalism, and realism.
Nāyla al-Khāja is the first female film writer, director and producer in the United Arab Emirates. al-Khaja has written and directed several films, all of which have been presented and awarded at various international film festivals such as Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) and to date, her films have participated in more than 42 festivals worldwide.
Scheherazade's Diary is a 2013 film directed by Zeina Daccache.
Zeina Daccache is a Lebanese actress and director.
Mohamed Habib Attia, is a Tunisian film producer. He is best known as the producer of critically acclaimed films Falastine Stereo, It Was Better Tomorrow and Le Challat de Tunis.
The 36th Cairo International Film Festival was held from November 9–18, 2014, including 17 films from ten Arab countries. Six films featured were nominated for the 87th Academy Awards the following year. The jury included four male and four female filmmakers representing the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe as well as the disciplines of direction, screenwriting, production, cinematography, and criticism, headed by Egyptian actress Yousra.
