The Most Famous

FILM DIRECTORS from Egypt

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This page contains a list of the greatest Egyptian Film Directors. The pantheon dataset contains 2,041 Film Directors, 5 of which were born in Egypt. This makes Egypt the birth place of the 42nd most number of Film Directors behind Serbia, and South Africa.

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Egyptian Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Egyptian Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.

Photo of Youssef Chahine

1. Youssef Chahine (1926 - 2008)

With an HPI of 65.06, Youssef Chahine is the most famous Egyptian Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages on wikipedia.

Youssef Chahine (Arabic: يوسف شاهين [ˈjuːsɪf ʃæˈhiːn]; 25 January 1926 – 27 July 2008) was an Egyptian film director. He was active in the Egyptian film industry from 1950 until his death. He directed twelve films included in a list of Top 100 Egyptian films published by the Cairo International Film Festival. A winner of the Cannes 50th Anniversary Award (for lifetime achievement), Chahine was credited with launching the career of actor Omar Sharif. A well-regarded director with critics, he was often present at film festivals during the earlier decades of his work. Chahine gained his largest international audience as one of the co-directors of 11'9"01 September 11 (2002).

Photo of Moshé Mizrahi

2. Moshé Mizrahi (1931 - 2018)

With an HPI of 60.43, Moshé Mizrahi is the 2nd most famous Egyptian Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Moshé Mizrahi (Hebrew: משה מזרחי; 5 September 1931 – 3 August 2018) was an Israeli film director.

Photo of Riccardo Freda

3. Riccardo Freda (1909 - 1999)

With an HPI of 58.17, Riccardo Freda is the 3rd most famous Egyptian Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror, giallo and spy films. Freda began directing I Vampiri in 1956. The film became the first Italian sound horror film production.

Photo of Atom Egoyan

4. Atom Egoyan (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 57.69, Atom Egoyan is the 4th most famous Egyptian Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Atom Egoyan (; Armenian: Ատոմ Եղոյեան, romanized: Atom Yeghoyan; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with Exotica (1994), a hyperlink film set in a strip club. He followed this with his most critically acclaimed film, The Sweet Hereafter (1997), an adaptation of the Russell Banks novel of the same name, for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Egoyan's other significant films include The Adjuster (1991), Ararat (2002), Where the Truth Lies (2005), Adoration (2008), Chloe (2009), Devil's Knot (2013), and Remember (2015). His works often explore themes of alienation and isolation, featuring characters whose interactions are mediated through technology, bureaucracy, or other power structures. His films often follow non-linear plot structures, in which events are placed out of sequence in order to elicit specific emotional reactions from the audience by withholding key information. Many of his films also draw on his experiences as a first-generation immigrant, and as a member of the Armenian diaspora. In addition to his Oscar nods, Egoyan has won eight Genie/Canadian Screen Awards, out of 25 total nominations. He received the 2008 Dan David Prize for "Creative Rendering of the Past" and the 2015 Governor General's Performing Arts Award. He has been a member of the Order of Canada since 1999, and was ascended to Companion in 2015. Egoyan is married to actress Arsinée Khanjian, whom he has often cast in his films.

Photo of Alex Proyas

5. Alex Proyas (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 56.05, Alex Proyas is the 5th most famous Egyptian Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Alexander Proyas ( PROY-əs; born 23 September 1963) is an Australian film director. He is known for directing the films The Crow (1994), Dark City (1998), I, Robot (2004) and Knowing (2009).

People

Pantheon has 5 people classified as Egyptian film directors born between 1909 and 1963. Of these 5, 2 (40.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Egyptian film directors include Atom Egoyan, and Alex Proyas. The most famous deceased Egyptian film directors include Youssef Chahine, Moshé Mizrahi, and Riccardo Freda. As of April 2024, 5 new Egyptian film directors have been added to Pantheon including Youssef Chahine, Moshé Mizrahi, and Riccardo Freda.

Living Egyptian Film Directors

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Deceased Egyptian Film Directors

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Newly Added Egyptian Film Directors (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Film Directors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Film Directors since 1700.