favourite directors

1. Alfred Hitchcock

Director | Psycho

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...

2. Mohamed Khan

Director | Fatat el masnaa

The director Mohamed Khan was born on October 26th 1942. He completed his high school in Egypt, then traveled to England where he earned his diploma in 1962. He directed several movies in 8mm. He went back to Egypt in 1963 & worked as script writer in a Cairo production company. Worked in Lebanon ...

3. Yehia El Alami

Director | Al Ziny Barakat

Yehia El Alami is known for Al Ziny Barakat (1995), Khaefah Men Shayen ma (1979) and Sin of an Angel (1979).

4. Enaam Muhammad Ali

Director | Heya Wa Al Mustaheel

Enaam Muhammad Ali is known for Heya Wa Al Mustaheel (1979) and Love and other things (1986).

5. Steven Spielberg

Producer | Schindler's List

One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...

6. Hilal Saral

Director | Kara Sevda

Hilal Saral was born in 1971. She is a director, known for Endless Love (2015), Forbidden Love (2008) and Zemheri (2020).

7. Ezz El Dine Zulficar

Writer | El-Shumoo el-Sawda

Ezz El-Dine Zulficar was an Egyptian film director, screenwriter, actor and producer known for his distinctive style, which blends romance and action. Zulficar is widely regarded one of the most influential filmmakers in the golden age of Egyptian Cinema.

Descendant from the Zulficar family, one of ...

8. Atef Salem

Director | Khan el khalili

Atef Salem was born on July 23, 1927 in Sudan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Khan el khalili (1967), Nahna el talamiza (1959) and El hermane (1953). He was married to Nabila Ebeid. He died on July 30, 2002 in Cairo, Egypt.

9. Gamal Abdel Hamid

Director | Zeezinya

Gamal Abdel Hamid is known for Zeezinya (1997), Bent Men Shoubra (2004) and Shams Al-Ansary (2012).

10. Lasse Hallström

Director | What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Lasse Hallström inherited his enthusiasm for film from his father, who was an amateur filmmaker. In high school he made his first short film, which was released on Swedish television. Hallström then began working as a director, cameraman and editor for Swedish television. He also made music videos ...

11. Henry Barakat

Director | El bab el maftuh

Henry Barakat was born on June 11, 1914 in Cairo, Egypt. He was a director and writer, known for El bab el maftuh (1963), Hasan wa Naimah (1959) and Leilet al quabd al Fatma (1984). He died on May 27, 1997 in Cairo, Egypt.

12. Hatem Ali

Director | Al-layl al-taweel

Hatem Ali was born on June 2, 1962 in Golan Heights. He was a director and actor, known for The Long Night (2009), Salah Al-deen Al-Ayyobi (2001) and Saqr Qoraish (2002). He was married to Dala' Al Rahabi. He died on December 29, 2020 in Cairo, Egypt.

13. Kamal El-Shaikh

Director | El shaitane el saghir

Kamal El-Shaikh was born on February 2, 1919 in Egypt. He was a director and editor, known for El shaitane el saghir (1963), Chased by the Dogs (1962) and El-Lailah el-Akhirah (1963). He died on January 2, 2004 in Cairo, Egypt.

14. William Wyler

Director | The Best Years of Our Lives

William Wyler was an American filmmaker who, at the time of his death in 1981, was considered by his peers as second only to John Ford as a master craftsman of cinema. The winner of three Best Director Academy Awards, second again only to Ford's four, Wyler's reputation has unfairly suffered as the...

15. Frank Darabont

Writer | The Shawshank Redemption

Three-time Oscar nominee Frank Darabont was born in a refugee camp in 1959 in Montbeliard, France, the son of Hungarian parents who had fled Budapest during the failed 1956 Hungarian revolution. Brought to America as an infant, he settled with his family in Los Angeles and attended Hollywood High ...

16. Tamer Mohsen

Director | Ot W Far

A renowned director, screenwriter and producer, Tamer Mohsen's passion for art has been present since his early childhood. At the age of seven, he became entranced with the marionettes that he used to perform the famous operetta El Leila El Kebira. After obtaining a degree in Engineering from the ...

17. Youssef Chahine

Director | Iskanderija... lih?

Youssef Chahine (born in Alexandria, Egypt, 1926) started studying in a friars' school, and then turned to Victoria College until the High School Certificate. After one year in the University of Alexandria, he moved to the U.S. and spent two years at the Pasadena Play House, taking courses on film ...

18. Pete Docter

Writer | Up

Pete Docter is the Oscar®-winning director of "Monsters, Inc.," "Up," and "Inside Out," and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. He is currently directing Pixar's feature film "Soul" with producer Dana Murray, which is set to release June 19, 2020.

Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the ...

19. Charles Chaplin

Writer | The Great Dictator

Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular character, the Little Tramp; the man with the ...

20. Inaam Mohamed Ali

Director | Al-Tareek Ela Eilat

Inaam Mohamed Ali is known for Al-Tareek Ela Eilat (1993), Om Kulthum (1999) and Nona El Shanona (1994).

21. Sheren Adel

Director | The Tiger

Sheren Adel is known for The Tiger (2021), Hogan (2019) and Sara (2005).

22. Ahmed Sakr

Director | Al Tareq

Ahmed Sakr is known for Al Tareq (2004), Opera Ayda (2000) and Hadith Alsabah wa Almassaa (2001).

23. Ismael Abdulhafez

Director | Hada'eq el-shaytan

Ismael Abdulhafez is known for Hada'eq el-shaytan (2006), Gomhoryet Zefta (1997) and Emraa Mn Zamn El Hob (1998).

24. Hala Khalil

Director | Nawara

Hala Khalil obtained a degree in film directing in 1992 from the Cairo Film School and started her career by writing and directing short films and documentaries. Her short film The Kite (1997) traveled to many film festivals and won several awards and international acclaim. Khalil has written and ...

25. Atef El-Tayeb

Director | Leila Sakhina

Atef El-Tayeb was born on December 26, 1947. He was a director and assistant director, known for Leila Sakhina (1995), Gallipoli (1981) and El-Zammar (1985). He died on June 23, 1995.

26. Samir Seif

Director | Souq al mot aa

Samir Seif was born on October 23, 1947 in Cairo, Egypt. He was a director and writer, known for Souq al mot aa (1999), The Fish's Tail (2003) and His Excellency the Minister (2002). He died on December 9, 2019 in Cairo, Egypt.

27. Fatin Abdulwahhab

Director | Al zouga talattashar

Fatin Abdulwahhab was born in 1913 in Dumyat, Egypt. He was a director and actor, known for The 13th Wife (1962), Tarid el firdaos (1965) and Son of Hamido (1957). He was married to Laila Mourad, Hagar Hamdi, Tahiyyah Karyuka and Munira Fathi. He died in 1972 in Beirut, Lebanon.

28. Chawki Mejri

Director | Al Ijtiyah

Chawki Mejri was born on November 11, 1961 in Tunis, Tunisia. He was a director, known for The Invasion (2008), Kingdom of Ants (2012) and Soqoot Hor (2016). He was married to Saba Mubarak. He died on October 10, 2019 in Cairo, Egypt.

29. Magdy Abu Emeira

Director | Al-Ragol Al-Akhar

Magdy Abu Emeira is known for Al-Ragol Al-Akhar (1999), Al Do' El Shared (1998) and Yetraba Fe Ezzo (2007).

30. Ingmar Bergman

Writer | Smultronstället

Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born July 14, 1918, the son of a priest. The film and T.V. series, The Best Intentions (1992) is biographical and shows the early marriage of his parents. The film Sunday's Children (1992) depicts a bicycle journey with his father. In the miniseries Private Confessions (...

31. James Cameron

Writer | Avatar: The Way of Water

James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He moved to the United States in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University before switching to English, and eventually dropping out. He then drove a truck to support his ...

32. Mohammad Fadel

Director | Hubb fi el-Zinzanah

Mohammad Fadel is known for Hubb fi el-Zinzanah (1983), El-Share'a El-Gedid (1997) and Nasser 56 (1996).

33. Maryam Abu-Of

Director | Tamantashar Yom

Mariam Abo-Ouf is an Egyptian director, and daughter of the famous actor Ezzat Abo-Ouf. She was born in Cairo and studied political science at college, before moving to England to study filmmaking. She debuted with the short film "Taxi", and also worked as an assistant director to several directors...

34. Jon Favreau

Producer | Chef

Initially an indie film favorite, actor Jon Favreau has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium and, after nearly two decades in the business, is still enjoying character stardom as well as earning notice as a writer/producer/director.

The amiable, husky-framed actor with the ...

35. Stephen Chbosky

Writer | The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Stephen Chbosky was born on January 25, 1970 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Wonder (2017) and Rent (2005). He has been married to Liz Maccie since September 18, 2010. They have two children.

36. Billy Wilder

Writer | The Apartment

Originally planning to become a lawyer, Billy Wilder abandoned that career in favor of working as a reporter for a Viennese newspaper, using this experience to move to Berlin, where he worked for the city's largest tabloid. He broke into films as a screenwriter in 1929 and wrote scripts for many ...

37. Mohamed Shaker

Director | Under Guardianship

Mohamed Shaker is known for Under Guardianship (2023), Grand Hotel (2015) and Every Week Has A Friday (2020).

38. Clyde Geronimi

Director | Cinderella

Clyde Geronimi was born on June 12, 1901 in Chiavenna, Lombardy, Italy. He was a director, known for Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953). He died on April 24, 1989 in Newport Beach, California, USA.

39. Hamilton Luske

Director | Cinderella

Hamilton Luske was an American animator and film director from Chicago, who spend most of his career at the Walt Disney Animation Studios. He served as the supervising director of several of Disney's films. He was also the supervising animator for the character of Snow White in the feature film "...

40. Wolfgang Reitherman

Director | The AristoCats

Wolfgang Reitherman was a German-born American animator who was one of Disney's Nine Old Men.

He began working for Disney in 1933, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of classic Disney shorts.

Reitherman directed several Disney animated ...

41. Ahmed El Gendy

Director | Teer enta

Ahmed El Gendy is known for You Fly (2009), Al Kabeer (2010) and Cima Ali Baba (2011).

42. Niazi Mostafa

Director | Banat hawa

An Egyptian director and writer, born 1910 to a Sudanese father and a Turkish mother. He completed his university studies in Germany and joined the German Film Institute there, then returned to Egypt in mid 1930s, where he worked as an editor at Studio Misr, then as an assistant director at first ...

43. Robert Zemeckis

Writer | Back to the Future

A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...

44. Kamlah Abu-Zikri

Director | Wahed-Sefr

Kamlah Abu-Zikri is known for One-Zero (2009), 18 Days (2011) and A Day for Women (2016).

45. Sidney Lumet

Director | 12 Angry Men

Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema, best known for his technical knowledge and his skill at getting first-rate performances from his actors -- and for shooting most of his films in his beloved New York. He made over 40 movies, often complex and emotional, but seldom overly sentimental. Although ...

46. Mohamed Abdelaziz

Director | Ragol Fakad Aklah

Mohamed Abdelaziz is known for Ragol Fakad Aklah (1980), Fi Saif Lazem Nihib (1974) and El Fata El Shereer (1989).