Sherif Nakhla

An Egyptian director and producer, who was born in Boston and spent his childhood in the US before returning to the Arab world. He graduated with a double major in Theater and Mass Communications from the American University in Cairo. Shortly afterwards, Sherif worked for Al-Ahram Weekly, writing for the culture section while also producing and directing plays, such as Moliereʼs Don Juan, which marked the opening of the 2003 Theatre Festival at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and Eugene Ionescoʼs The Lesson at El Sawy Culture Wheel. In 2005, Nakhla left the newspaper and had a two year stint in advertising with Tarek Nour Communications, before becoming a Sauvé Scholar at McGill University in 2007.
His first work after graduation was a short film called Miraculum (2006) discussing the taboo topic of a Muslim/Christian teenage love stories -an issue deliberately left out of public dialogue. This film participated in more than 25 international film festivals, winning three awards including the Best Sociopolitical Film at the New York Independent International Film Festival. In 2009, Nakhla began working on his first feature documentary Les Petits Chats, and he is currently in the process of making his first feature film.