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.
Maggie Morgan
Maggie is an Egyptian film director, festival programmer, and film professor at the AUC. She created award-winning feature films and earned wide acclaim in national and international film festivals, including the award for Best Director at the Malmö Arab Film Festival in 2013. Her filmography includes the narrative feature films From Within: Their Stories (2007) and Asham (2012), the documentary films From Meir, to Meir (2021) and The Memoirs of M.A. Draz (2024), in addition to several short films.
Mariam Naoum
Mariam is an Egyptian screenwriter, with a degree from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo. She is the founder of Sard Writer’s Room, a hub for screenwriters to develop their TV projects. Since 2016, Sard has hosted collective writing workshops for emerging screenwriters, where Watch Out for Zizi! (2021), The Seven-Year Itch (2023), and other TV drama series were developed. Mariam’s filmography includes the narrative feature films One–Zero (2009) and Between Two Seas (2019), as well as the TV drama series Dhat (2013), Women’s Prison (2014), Under Control (2015), Free Falling (2016), Sunset Oasis (2017), the multi-season Why Not? (2021–2023), and Lam-Shamseya/The Unspoken (2025).
Manal Khaled
Manal is an Egyptian film director, with training in screenwriting and film criticism. She has been working at the Egyptian Television Network since 1993 while also working as an assistant director alongside Saad Hindawi, Kamla Abu-Zikry, and Hani Khalifa. Her filmography includes From Gaza in Palestine (2008, documentary), the award-wining film Hot Bath (2018, narrative feature), and A Matter of an Hour (2021, documentary).
Mona Rabie
Mona is an Egyptian film editor and prominent figure in the field of film editing in Egypt. Her filmography includes the iconic narrative feature films Hysteria (1998), Friends or Business (2001), Alexandria/Private (2005), Tell Us, Scheherazade! (2009), Messages from the Sea (2010), and Nawara (2015). Mona was also the editor of the TV drama series Dhat (2013), For the Highest Bidder (2017), and Family Size (2018).
Nadia Kamel
Nadia is an Egyptian writer and documentary filmmaker. She worked as an assistant director alongside Atiyyat al-Abnudi, Youssef Chahine, and Yousry Nasrallah. Her filmography includes the award-winning documentary film Salata Baladi (2007), and in Tunisia The Green Mirage (2012), with a film underway on Egypt’s youth during the 1980s.
Nadine Khan
Nadine is an Egyptian filmmaker with a degree from the Higher Institute of Cinema. She started her career as an assistant director alongside Yousry Nasrallah in The Gate of the Sun (2004, narrative feature) and Mohamed Khan in Downtown Girls (2005, narrative feature). Her filmography includes One in a Million (2006, short feature), the award-winning Chaos, Disorder (2012, narrative feature), Abu-Saddam (2021, narrative feature), in addition to the TV drama series Seventh Neighbor (2017–2018) in collaboration with Ayten Amin and Heba Yousry, Says Who? (2022), the multi-season Who Not? (2020–2023), and Mandatory Direction (2024).
Nada Riyadh
Nada is an Egyptian film director with experience in film editing and production management. She is the cofounder of Felucca Films, a Cairo-based production company that supports emerging filmmakers interested in contemporary social issues. Nada launched filmmaking workshops to empower disadvantaged communities in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. Her filmography includes Happily Ever After (2016, documentary), The Trap (2019, short feature), and The Brink of Dreams (2024, documentary), the first Egyptian film to be awarded the L’Oeil d’Or prize for the best documentary at Cannes Film Festival.
Hala Elkoussy
Hala is an Egyptian film director, photographer, and visual artist, with a master’s in image and communication from Goldsmiths, University of London. She has taught photography at the AUC and exhibited at Tate Modern (London), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), the International Center for Photography (New York), the Center of Contemporary Art (Geneva), Townhouse Gallery (Cairo), and Hayy Jameel (Jeddah). Her filmography includes the internationally acclaimed narrative feature films Cactus Flower (2017) and East of Noon (2024).
Hala Galal
Hala is an Egyptian filmmaker and the founder of SEMAT, Egypt’s first initiative with core focus on supporting alternative cinema and independent film production. Active in Egypt’s filmmaking community, Hala launched educational initiatives and delivered lectures on independent filmmaking, in addition to serving on the jury of multiple film festivals. Her filmography includes 15 documentary and narrative feature films, among which is the award-winning documentary From Cairo (2021).