Jihan El-Tahri is an Egyptian and French national who is an award winning director, writer, visual artist and producer. In 2017 she was invited to join the Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Oscars) and continues as a Mentor at the Documentary Campus in Germany and Ouaga Lab in Burkina Faso. Her recent work as a visual artist include exhibitions in France at Centre Pompidou, Berlin at HKW and IFA Gallery, Norway at the National Museum, Mexico at San Ildefonso, and in Poland at Moma along side artists including John Akomfrah, the Otolith Group and Kader Attia.
El-Tahri started her career as a Foreign Correspondent covering Middle East Politics. In 1990 she began directing and producing documentaries for the BBC, PBS, Arte and other international broadcasters. Her award winning documentaries include Nasser which premiered in the official selection at Toronto International Festival, Behind the Rainbow, Cuba, an African Odyssey and the Emmy nominated House of Saud. Her writings include Les Sept Vies de Yasser Arafat (Grasset) and Israel and the Arabs, The 50 Years war (Penguin). El-Tahri is also engaged in various associations and institutions working with African Cinema. She served as treasurer of the Guild of African Filmmakers in the Diaspora, an Advisor on Focus Feature’s Africa first Program and as Regional Secretary of the Federation of Pan African Cinema (FEPACI).