Women’s Oral History Archive Hya Wal Camera
The Camera and Her: Women Filmmakers of Contemporary Egyptian Cinema
The Camera and Her is a project launched by the Women and Memory Forum (WMF) in November 2024 to document the life and professional experiences of Egyptian women filmmakers in the Women’s Oral History Archive. Through oral history interviews with 19 women professionals in the filmmaking industry, the WMF produced a series of short documentary films that tell the stories of the women behind the camera in their own voices. The Camera and Her celebrates the lives and careers of Egyptian women filmmakers and their active and diverse presence at the center of contemporary cinematic narratives.
Amal Ramsis
Amal is an Egyptian filmmaker and the founder of the Cairo International Women’s Film Festival – the first annual women’s film festival in the Arab world. She studied film directing at the Septima Ars Film and TV School in Madrid before launching educational initiatives and filmmaking workshops for women. Her filmography includes the award-winning documentary films Forbidden (2011), The Trace of the Butterfly (2015), and You Come from Far Away (2018).
Ayten Amin
Ayten is an Egyptian filmmaker with a degree in film criticism from the AUC. Her films were screened at multiple international film festivals, gaining wide acclaim. Her filmography includes Spring 89 (2009, short feature), Tahrir 2011: The Good, the Bad, and the Politician (documentary, 2011), Villa 69 (narrative feature, 2013), and Souad (narrative feature, 2020), in addition to the multi-season family drama series Seventh Neighbor (2017–2018).
Taghreed al-Asfouri
Taghreed is an Egyptian director, writer, film editor, and voice actress. Besides voice acting in Disney animation films, she performed the voice of Tamatem in the renowned children puppet series Bougie w Tamtam. Her filmography includes the sitcoms Tamer w Shawqeya (2008–2009) and Door to Door (2012–2014), and the multi-season medical drama series Critical Moments (2007, 2010, 2012–2013), in addition to documentary and narrative feature films.
Tahani Rached
Tahani is an Egyptian documentary filmmaker with over 20 films to her name. She worked as a filmmaker for the National Film Board of Canda, and her filmography includes the highly acclaimed documentaries To Make a Change (1973), Beirut! Not Enough Death to Go Round (1983), Four Women of Egypt (1997) and Those Girls (2006).
Dalia al-Nasser
Dalia is an Egyptian film editor and assistant director with a degree from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo. Her career began with The Players (1987, narrative feature) while pursuing her degree. Her filmography includes iconic narrative feature films, such as Terrorism and Kebab (1992), The Forgotten (1993), Nutshell (1995), The Beach Loafer (2004), and The Island (2007), in addition to her contributions to the TV drama series Al Khawaga Abd al-Qader (2012) and Wannous (2016).
Shereen Farghal
Shereen is an Egyptian art director with a degree from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo and a master’s in virtual studio technology. She worked with Salma al-Shamaa at the Egyptian Television Network to establish the Nile Variety Channel in 1998. Shereen is a professor at the Higher Institute of Cinema, and her filmography includes The New Street (1997, drama series), The Best of Times (2004, narrative feature), Women’s Prison (2014, drama series), The Jewish Quarter (2015, drama series), and 100 Masks (2020, comedy series).
Rahma Muntasir
Rahma is an Egyptian film editor and one of Egypt’s pioneer women in the field. She was among the first graduating class of the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo where she currently works as a professor. She joined The Mummy (1969, narrative feature) as an assistant film editor before earning her diploma from the London Film School in 1971. Rahma lectured on film editing at the Radio and Television Institute (RTI), the Cinema Culture Palace, and the French Institute in Egypt. Her filmography includes Bitter Day, Sweet Day (1988), Summersaults (1988), and War in the Land of Egypt: The Egyptian Citizen (1991), among several other iconic documentary and narrative feature films.
Safaa al-Leithi
Safaa is an Egyptian film editor, writer, and critic, with a long career in film editing, alongside her work as a film critic and newspaper writer. She has published books on cinema and filmmaking in Egypt and a short story collection. Safaa served on the selection committees and juries of several Egyptian and international film festivals. Her filmography includes the narrative feature films Kaborya (1990), Naji al-Ali (1992), and Three on the Road (1993).
Hala Khalil
Hala is an Egyptian filmmaker with a degree from the Higher Institute of Cinema. She directed award-winning films and won the award for Best Director at the 2006 Cairo International Film Festival. Her filmography includes the iconic narrative feature films The Best of Times (2004), Cut and Paste (2006), and Nawara (2015), the sitcom Shabab Online (2002), and the TV drama series Family Size (2018) and Sweet Dreams (2022).