Arab Women Behind the Lens: Nadine Labaki and Haifaa al-Mansour Double Up the Spotlight This April

This April, in honor of Arab American Heritage Month, we’re spotlighting two powerhouse women whose voices have reshaped the landscape of cinema across the Arab world and beyond: Nadine Labaki, the Lebanese filmmaker known for her bold, human-centered storytelling and being the first female Arab director to be nominated for an Academy Award, and Haifaa al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia’s first female director and a trailblazer for women in film. Their work challenges cultural norms and carves space for their communities' untold stories, centering women, resilience, and justice.

NADINE LABAKI: LEBANESE ACTRESS AND DIRECTOR

🎥 Nadine Labaki: Storytelling as Resistance

A force in Arab cinema, Nadine Labaki is as much a storyteller as she is a cultural architect. Born in Baabdat, Lebanon, Labaki entered the international scene with her radiant 2007 film Caramel, a warm, feminist portrayal of five Lebanese women navigating love, identity, and tradition in Beirut. It was a breath of fresh air—and the start of a career marked by Labaki’s distinct ability to balance humor with emotional depth.

With each of her projects, Labaki pushes cinematic boundaries, using film as a lens to expose taboo topics like sectarianism, war, religion, and gender roles in the Arab world. Her 2011 film Where Do We Go Now? brought global acclaim for its exploration of religious tension and female unity in a small village torn by conflict. In Capernaum (2018), Labaki delivered a gut-wrenching masterpiece about a child living in the slums of Beirut. It became the highest-grossing Arabic-language film of all time and earned an Academy Award nomination.

What sets Labaki apart is her obsession with authenticity, often casting non-professional actors and drawing from lived experience. “Our responsibility is to use our art to help people who are suffering,” she told an interviewer during the Marrakech Film Festival. To her, being a filmmaker is inherently political.

This year, Labaki is back on screen in the Netflix thriller The Sand Castle, reuniting with the young stars of Capernaum, Zain and Reman Al Rafeea. The film follows an Arabic family trapped on a seemingly idyllic island that slowly reveals dark secrets. Directed by Matty Brown, The Sand Castle blends surrealism and suspense with social commentary—a perfect fit for Labaki’s commitment to meaningful cinema. Whether she’s behind or in front of the camera, Labaki continues to be a voice for the voiceless, reminding us of the power of storytelling in troubled times.

HAIFAA AL-MANSOUR: SAUDI ARABIAN FILM DIRECTOR

🎬 Haifaa al-Mansour: Breaking Barriers in Saudi Cinema

When Haifaa al-Mansour released Wadjda in 2012, she didn’t just make history—she sparked a cultural shift. As the first feature-length film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, and the first by a Saudi woman, Wadjda introduced global audiences to a side of Saudi life rarely seen on screen: a 10-year-old girl who just wants to ride a bicycle in a society that tells her she can’t. It was a quiet revolution—and the world noticed.

Al-Mansour’s films have since become synonymous with nuance and progress. In The Perfect Candidate (2019), she explored the changing role of women in Saudi Arabia through the story of a female doctor running for local office. Her work often focuses on women navigating patriarchal systems with grit and grace—refusing to be sidelined.

Now, Al-Mansour is preparing to shake things up again with her latest thriller, Unidentified. Currently in post-production and acquired by Sony Pictures Classics, the film follows Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced woman and true crime aficionado who becomes obsessed with solving the mystery behind an unidentified teenage girl’s body found in the desert. As the investigation deepens, the film weaves a chilling tale of grief, obsession, and societal transition—where women, even in silence, are learning to claim space and truth.

This return to a female-centered story set against a backdrop of mystery signals Al-Mansour’s next evolution as a director—still subversive, still unflinching, and more vital than ever. As she puts it: “Cinema is a way to reflect, to push, to open eyes—especially in a country that’s learning to see itself differently.”

Both LABAKI and AL-MANSOUR are telling stories that matter—stories that challenge, that comfort, that change us. As artists, they remind us that representation isn't just about who is seen, but who gets to speak—who gets to define themselves and their communities on their own terms.

This Arab Heritage Month, we honor their courage, creativity, and conviction. Whether it’s a girl with a bike, a boy in Beirut, or a woman unraveling a mystery in the desert—their characters stay with us, long after the credits roll.

At WISE, we believe in the power of storytelling to shift perspectives and spark change. That’s why we’re committed to uplifting creators like Labaki and al-Mansour—amplifying voices that often go unheard and making space for bold, authentic narratives to thrive.

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