Jehane Noujaim

Egyptian American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim has dedicated her life to directing and producing films between the United States and the Middle East. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Harvard, where she was awarded the Gardiner Fellowship for her Arabic film "Mokattam" about a garbage-collecting village near Cairo, Egypt, Noujaim joined the MTV News and Documentary Division as a segment producer for the documentary series "Unfiltered." She soon left MTV to produce and direct the feature documentary "StartUp.com." This critically acclaimed film won numerous awards, including the DGA and IDA awards for best documentary.

Noujaim continued to work on numerous documentaries, including "Born Rich," "Only the Strong Survive," and "Down from the Mountain," before directing "Control Room" in 2004. This documentary exposes the differences in media coverage between the Arab and the Western world during the United States’ war with Iraq, and was met with critical acclaim. In 2006, Noujaim won the TED Prize, becoming the youngest recipient and the first woman to win this award. Her wish was to create Pangea Day, a live videoconference featuring music, film, and speakers from cities around the world, including Cairo, New York City, and Rio de Janeiro, to foster global unity through film.

Noujaim's subsequent projects have also been notable. "Rafea: Solar Mama" (2013) and "The Square" (2014) continued her exploration of powerful social narratives. "The Square," which documented the uprising in Tahrir Square, was nominated for an Academy Award, won the Directors Guild Award, the International Documentary Award, and became the first film to win the Audience Award at both Sundance and the Toronto Film Festival. More recently, Noujaim directed the Netflix film "The Great Hack," which was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. She also served as an Executive Producer and Director on the Hulu comedy series "Ramy" and directed the HBO documentary series "The Vow." "The Vow" was critically acclaimed and listed among the best 10 shows of 2020 by the LA Times, The Washington Post, and Entertainment Weekly. A follow-up, "The Vow Part 2," aired in 2021.

Throughout her career, Noujaim has been recognized for her contributions to filmmaking and global discourse. She was named a Young Global Leader by the WEF in 2007 and included in lists such as “50 People Who Will Change the World” by Wired in 2012, “125 Women of Impact” by Newsweek in 2013, and “100 Most Creative People in the World” by Fast Company in 2014. Her work continues to inspire audiences and challenge perspectives across the globe.