FILM DIRECTORS from Egypt

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.

1. Youssef Chahine (1926 - 2008)

With an HPI of 58.85, Youssef Chahine is the most famous Egyptian Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages on wikipedia.

Youssef Chahine (Arabic: يوسف شاهين, romanized: Yūsuf Shāhīn [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).

2. Moshé Mizrahi (1931 - 2018)

With an HPI of 54.84, 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.

3. Riccardo Freda (1909 - 1999)

With an HPI of 51.77, 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.

4. Atom Egoyan (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 50.56, Atom Egoyan is the 4th most famous Egyptian Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Atom Egoyan (; Armenian: Ատոմ Եղոյեան; born July 19, 1960) is a Canadian filmmaker. Emerging in the 1980s as part of the Toronto New Wave, he made his career breakthrough with Exotica (1994), a film set in a strip club. Egoyan's most critically acclaimed film is the drama The Sweet Hereafter (1997), for which he received two Academy Award nominations. His biggest commercial success is the erotic thriller Chloe (2009). Egoyan's 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. He received the 2008 Dan David Prize for "Creative Rendering of the Past" and the 2015 Governor General's Performing Arts Award. Egoyan is married to actress Arsinée Khanjian, whom he has often cast in his films.

5. Alex Proyas (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 49.66, 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 filmmaker. He is best known for directing the films The Crow (1994), Dark City (1998), I, Robot (2004), and Knowing (2009).