Majid Al Ansari

Majid Al Ansari’s got one hell of a track record. Kicked things off with Zinzana (or Rattle The Cage, if you prefer the English title), which didn’t just quietly slip onto the scene—it exploded at Fantastic Fest in Austin, then strutted its stuff at the BFI London Film Festival. Not to brag (okay, maybe just a little), but Variety called it a “World Class Neo Noir Thriller”—and that’s not something you hear every day about Arab cinema. Oh, and they handed Majid the "Arab Filmmaker of the Year" title at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, which is no small potatoes. Zinzana didn’t just sit on the shelf, either—IM Global scooped it up and Netflix grabbed it as their very first Arab film for the Middle East. Kinda groundbreaking, honestly. After that, Majid switched gears and started flexing his muscles as Executive Producer on some heavy-hitting Arab films. He backed Yasir Al Yasiri’s Shabab Sheyab, Mohammad Saeed Harib’s Rashid and Rajab, and Shahed Ameen’s Scales. Scales even landed at Venice International Film Festival Critics Week in 2019 and snagged the Club Verona award for most innovative film. Talk about range. Fast forward to 2020—Majid gets behind the camera again, this time for Netflix’s Paranormal, directing three episodes. Now, this isn’t just any show. It’s based on Ahmed Khaled Tawfik’s iconic novels and holds the title of Netflix’s first Egyptian original series. When it dropped in November, people couldn’t stop talking about it. Top trending, all over the place. Safe to say, Majid keeps pushing boundaries and making serious waves.