• Adil Hassan

    Adil Hassan is an actor and writer for stage and screen.

    His latest short film, “Can't Let Them In”, was screened at the London Child Poverty Summit 2021, where he also spoke about tackling child poverty and unsuitable accommodation. And 2 weeks after the screening, his family were able to move out of their 1 bedroom flat into a 3 bedroom home, after a housing association heard his story.

  • Agatha Ezzedine

    Agatha Ezzedine is a British-Lebanese writer and actress. She is the creator of “Whispers-Hamasat”, an online play that raised nearly £100,000 to rebuild Beirut’s theatres and support its arts community following the devastating August 4th, 2020 blast.

  • Ali Al-Jamri

    Ali Al-Jamri is one of Manchester’s Multilingual City Poets in 2022. His poem, ‘In Prisms of Knowledge’ was written for the city’s Festival of Libraries in both English and Arabic He is also a translator, editor and teacher.

    One of his great interests is the Baharna Arab folk culture from Bahrain, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf, and much of his work draws from this background.

  • Amal Khalidi

    Amal Khalidi is a poet, musician and storyteller born and raised in London, currently working on a commissioned play with Half Moon theatre.

    Their work looks at the experience of being a part of the North African diaspora, the cultural fluidity of London, and trying to understand the complexities of growing up mixed, muslim and queer.

  • Amira Al Shanti

    Amira Al Shanti is a Scottish-Palestinian actor, singer and writer. Her most recent appearance was her West End debut in the world premiere of Rumi at the London Coliseum.

  • Amro Mahmoud

    Amro Mahmoud is a British Egyptian-Sudanese actor and writer based in London & Brighton.

    Amro has created theatrical and audio pieces about origins and identity with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. He has also written a dystopian-set short thriller film, and a comedy drama TV pilot called 'BASE' following a group of young actors who enter a legendary arts school.

  • Carmen Nasr

    Carmen Nasr is a British-Lebanese writer.

    She is currently under commission to the Kiln Theatre/Sky Productions, Almeida Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, and is adapting Booker Prize shortlisted novel “Burnt Sugar” by Avni Doshi, for the Lot Productions.

  • Elias Suhail

    Elias Suhail is a British-Moroccan writer and filmmaker based in Folkestone, UK.

    He hopes to use his confluence of experiences to tell stories that offer a deeper understanding of the multiplicity of Arab and working-class identities.

  • Faisal Attrache

    Faisal Attrache is a writer, director and producer. His short historical drama, “From the Mountain”, inspired his great-grandfather’s life in 1920’s Syria, premiered at the Red Sea Film Festival, Saudi Arabia (2021) and won the Jury Award at the Franco-Arab Film Festival, Jordan (2022).

    Born in Swaida, Syria, Faisal received an MFA in Film Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles, and is currently based in the UK.

  • Fatima Kried

    Fatima Kried is a British-Libyan creative. Their award-winning debut micro animation "Yuluu" - a haunting animated short exploring ideas of exile after the 2006 Lebanon War - has been successfully picked up by festivals all over the world. And they are now working on their third film, a short romantic drama taking inspiration from 500 Days of Summer and Sliding Doors.

  • Fatima Serghini

    British-Moroccan writer Fatima Serghini has gone from working in the New York fashion industry, to becoming an emerging new playwright, inviting audiences to explore stories and see worlds not normally accessible to them.

  • Gamze Şanlı

    Gamze Şanlı is a British, Turkish and Cypriot filmmaker, artist and performer.

    Her craft incorporates experimental theatre, film and documentary, and intertwines stories around socio-politics, ancestral remembrance, nostalgic fantasy, poetic horror, hauntology, mythology and witchcraft. She is currently working on experimental art projects and is a member of the Documentarist, MENA Arts and London Short Film Festival teams.

  • Hassan Abdulrazzak

    Hassan Abdulrazzak is an award-winning playwright and an experienced screenwriter.

    His plays include “Baghdad Wedding” and “Love Bombs and Apples.”

    He has received the George Devine, Meyer-Whitworth and Pearson awards as well as the Arab British Centre Award for Culture. “Love, Bombs and Apples” was the winner of outstanding production at Theatre Bay Area Awards 2018.

  • Ibbi El Hani

    Ibbi El Hani is a Danish-Moroccan actress, singer and writer based in London and Copenhagen.

    Her storytelling explores the themes of cultural and social pressures, racism, fragmented identity, mental health and intersectional feminism.

    She is currently working on a Danish feature film “The Promise”, which is supported by the Danish Film Institute.

  • Julie-Yara Atz

    Julie-Yara Atz is a Syrian-Swiss hybrid filmmaker and actor. Their documentary "Leaving Syria: long live the youth" premiered at Telluride in 2017, and they are currently writing their first feature film produced by Luna Films, with the support of the Migros Culture Percentage.

    They're finishing an MA in Cultural Studies with a focus on storytelling in times of war in Syria. Cultural anomaly.

  • Laith Elzubaidi

    Laith Elzubaidi is a British-Iraqi screenwriter and director based in London. He is the founder of the British-Arab Writers Group.

    His recent sci-fi drama, “An Impossible Homecoming”, was nominated for the Edinburgh TV Festival All3Media New Drama Script Award. He also has a sitcom in development with Three Little Birds Pictures.

  • May Ziadé

    May Ziadé is a French-Lebanese writer and filmmaker based in London.

    Her work explores the physical and emotional consequences of the cultural and social pressures to conform.

  • Mohamed Hassan

    Mohamed Hassan is an award-winning TV writer, podcaster, essayist and poet from Auckland and Cairo.

    His debut poetry collection was shortlisted for the New Zealand National Book Awards in 2021, and his bestselling essay collection “How To Be A Bad Muslim” was published by Penguin Random House in 2022. He is the creator and the lead writer of “Miles From Nowhere” .

  • Mohammedally Shushtari

    Mohammedally Shushtari is an actor-writer of Yemeni-Iranian heritage born and raised in London. He particularly explores fractured identity and grief in his writing. His short film "Can Be" screened at the Aesthetica Film Festival 2023 and another short "Do It For Her" screened at the London Short Film Festival and has 60,000 views online. He is currently developing his debut feature and a variety of TV shows.

  • Nada Sabet

    Nada is a theatre director, facilitator and children’s book publisher with two decades of experience directing and facilitating across the Arab world.

    Nada’s artistic work mixes multiple schools and styles, allowing her to tackle taboo subjects in fun and thought-provoking ways. She has created works for adults, youth and children in theatrical and non-theatrical spaces with professionals and enthusiasts alike, by using theatre and its tools.

  • Nadia Nadif

    Nadia is an actor and writer of English, Irish and Moroccan heritage.

    In 2022, she was commissioned by London SouthBank Uni for her short film and by Shakespeare's Globe / Tamasha for her monologue. She's currently writing a comedy short set in 1970s Casablanca.

    Nadia is creator of feature film Catalina, a historical thriller, written by Hassan Abdulrazzak, developed with the BFI.

  • Natali Khalili Tari

    Natali Khalili Tari is a British, Croatian-Iranian photographer and filmmaker based in London. Interested in the intersections of migration, diaspora and culture, her work amplifies underrepresented voices and stories with a strong focus on the SWANA and Balkan regions and diasporas.

    Recent films include: 'Between Mountains and Wars' (which premiered at the 27th Sarajevo Film Festival) and 'These Hands Tell Stories'.

  • Olympia Christofinis

    Olympia Christofinis is an award-winning Syrian-Cypriot writer-director. She has been nominated for an Edinburgh TV Festival New Voice Award (2022); won a Royal Television Society National Student Award (2021); and awarded a bursary to the National Theatre Playwriting Course (2020).

  • Omar Badawy

    Originally from Egypt, Omar started stand up comedy in 2019 and, in his first year (+global pandemic), went on to win the prestigious 'So You Think You're Funny' award at the Edinburgh Fringe. He talks about his encounters with strange school friends, football fans and EDL-badge-wearing bouncers, providing unique insight from a childhood moving from Egypt to Wales to Cambridge.

  • Raghad Chaar

    Raghad Chaar is a Syrian-Scottish actor, voiceover artist and writer based in London.

    Her most recent writing includes “Ore” , a TV pilot she wrote during the pandemic. Raghad is now in the early stages of writing her next TV pilot, based on her life.

  • Riffy Ahmed

    Riffy Ahmed is a British-Bahraini and Bangladeshi film director, writer and visual artist based in London. Her work has screened at Aesthetica Short Film Festival, Athens International Film and Video Festival, BFI Flare, Tribeca Arts Centre, Nour Arts Festival and the Saatchi Gallery.

  • Roann Hassani McCloskey

    Roann Hassani McCloskey is an Algerian-British storyteller. Her work includes her 2019 award-winning sell-out, one-woman show, “My Father the Tantric Masseur.” Her second show, “Who Murdered My Cat?” shines a light on memory, its inconsistencies and its power in forming our identities.

  • Roua Horanieh

    Roua is a Syrian British writer and architect, whose work investigates voice, identity and agency.

    She performed her Damascus Journals in the UK, Germany & Spain. And her RSC37 shortlisted play, “Home, Pizza/Visa & A Pledge To The Queen” premieres at the Kleist Forum, before touring in Germany.

    She is a member of teatreBLAU and the Young Vic Creators Program.

  • Saeed Taji Farouky

    Saeed Taji Farouky is a Palestinian-British filmmaker and artist who has been producing work around themes of conflict, human rights and colonialism since 1998.

    His latest feature doc, “A Thousand Fires” was shot in Myanmar just before the military coup of early 2020, and follows a married couple who make a living by drilling oil from their own makeshift oil field, right outside their house.

  • Safia Lamrani

    Safia Lamrani is a British-Moroccan actor, writer, and co-founder of Pistachio Theatre Company.

    She has work published with: Amaliah, Foyer Magazine, Dardishi, The Invitation Magazine, Morocco World News. Safia has performed her writing at The Globe, The Bush Theatre, Lion and Unicorn Theatre. Her one woman show is currently in development to be staged in both London and Tangier.

  • Samantha Ellis

    Samantha Ellis is an Iraqi Jewish writer who writes plays, books, TV & film.

    Her play, “How to Date a Feminist” has been performed all over the world., and she has worked on the screenplays of both “Paddington” films. For radio she has written, “Sugar and Snow” and “Love is not New in this Country.

  • Sarah Agha

    Sarah Agha is a Palestinian/Irish actress and writer from London. She is a passionate advocate for Arab theatre and culture. And currently curates the Arab Play Reading Club and The Arab Film Club.

    She currently writes freelance for Backstage Magazine, and has also been featured in 1883 Magazine, the Royal Shakespeare Company Patrons Paper and the charity anthology “Out of Isolation” by Unicorn Publishing.

  • Shehroze Khan

    Shehroze Khan is a writer & director with a passion for character-driven films, that can shine a mirror to society.

    His most recent short “Man To Man” starred SAG Award/Independent Spirit Award-nominated David Harewood MBE (Homeland, Blood Diamond) and won the First Prize Breaking Boundaries award at Flicker’s Rhode Island Film Festival.

  • Sherine Chalhie

    Sherine is an Irish/Syrian actress, writer, voice over artist and producer from London.

    Her play "Secrets of da Syrian Sisters" was shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award, and performed her sell out West End solo show "Why So Syrian?" at Soho Theatre.

    Sherine is currently writing a pilot TV series, "Are You Dizzy Fam?” and is passionate about inspirational stories regarding womanhood and identity.

  • Theo Panagopoulos

    Theo Panagopoulos is a Greek-Lebanese-Palestinian writer, director, film programmer and PhD candidate based in Scotland.

    His storytelling explores the themes of memory, politics, fragmented identity and language connected to collective trauma and healing.

    His documentary short “My Own Personal Lebanon” was shortlisted for the IRIS Award of the Hellenic Film Academy and won the Odysseus.

  • Yasmeen Ghrawi

    Yasmeen is a queer Iraqi/Syrian/Assyrian performer and story-maker who works across theatre, film and audio, exploring themes of migration, displacement and social justice.

    She has collaborated with artists and ensembles on projects including "When Farah Cries", "Welcome to the UK" and RSC's "A Museum in Baghdad".

    She is also a stand-up comedian and a member of Counterpoints Arts' No Direction Home collective.