This year the Arab Film Festival turns 30! As our programming team is finalizing the list of films and events for the 2026 edition, we can already share that Haifaa Al Mansour will be Jury Chair.
Haifaa Al Mansour is the first female filmmaker from Saudi Arabia and the most prominent cinematic figure from the Kingdom. Her film Wadjda opened the 2013 Arab Film Festival and was voted #25 of The 100 Greatest Arab Films of All Time.
Keep reading to learn all about her films; first, we asked Haifaa Al Mansour a couple of questions about chairing the Jury for the 30th Arab Film Festival.
AFMI: What excites you most about being part of our jury?
Haifaa Al Mansour: I’m very excited to be part of a festival that celebrates Arab and Arab American filmmakers and gives a platform to voices that are still too often underrepresented. Serving on a jury is always a wonderful opportunity to discover new filmmakers and to be surprised by the different ways they see the world. I’m especially excited to see stories that feel personal and culturally specific, because those are often the stories that connect with audiences in the most universal way. It is a privilege to help recognize and encourage filmmakers who are bringing new perspectives to our cinema.
AFMI: In your view, why is it important to showcase Arab cinema on a global stage?
Haifaa Al Mansour: Arab cinema is incredibly diverse, and it is important for international audiences to see the full range of our experiences. Too often, the Arab world is presented through a very narrow lens, usually defined by politics, conflict, or stereotypes. Cinema allows us to complicate that image and show the humor, ambition, contradictions, joy and everyday humanity of our communities. I have always believed that the more specific and authentic a story is, the more universal it can become. Giving Arab filmmakers a global platform allows us to tell our own stories in our own voices, while also reminding audiences that our experiences are part of a much larger human story.
About Haifaa Al Mansour
Haifaa Al Mansour is the first female filmmaker from Saudi Arabia and the most prominent cinematic figure from the Kingdom. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Literature from the American University in Cairo and completed a Master’s in Directing and Film Studies from the University of Sydney under the prestigious Endeavor Scholarship Program.
Starting with the success of her three short films, as well as the international acclaim of her award winning 2005 documentary Women Without Shadows, and continuing through her work in the International Film and Television industry, Haifaa has influenced and inspired a new wave of Saudi filmmakers.
Al Mansour’s acclaimed 2012 film Wadjda received numerous awards and accolades at festivals around the world, including winning the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film. She was awarded the 2016 Kant World Citizen Prize in Freiburg Germany, as well as the German Prize for Children’s Literature for her young adult novel based on the film entitled “Das Madchen Wadjda.”
Wadjda also screened at the 2013 Arab Film Festival and was voted #25 of The 100 Greatest Arab Films of All Time.
In 2017 Al Mansour released Mary Shelley, starring Elle Fanning and Douglas Booth, about the love affair between Percy and Mary Shelley as she wrote Frankenstein. She followed that film in 2018 with the Netflix film Nappily Ever After starring Sanaa Latham. She later premiered a short film at Venice Film Festival through Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales series entitled The Wedding Singer’s Daughter.
In 2019 she released The Perfect Candidate, about a female doctor who runs for political office in Saudi Arabia. Throughout that time she directed a variety of episodes for television and streaming services, including Motherland for Freeform, The Good Lord Bird for Showtime, The Society and Archive 81 for Netflix, The Wilds, The Sinner, and Bosch: Legacy at Amazon, Tales of the Walking Dead, and Mayfair Witches for AMC, and City on Fire for Apple.
In 2024 she directed a Nike commercial promoting women in sport. In June of 2026, Sony Classics released Al Mansour’s fifth film Unidentified, an Arabic language mystery-thriller set in Saudi Arabia.
Haifaa al-Mansour is also a member and Governor-at-Large on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Psst: The 30th Arab Film Festival opens on November 5th, 2026 in San Francisco. We are still a few weeks away from sharing the full #AFF30 schedule, but you can already buy your pass here
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