Biography
With a plethora of unforgettable audience favorites to his credit, Egyptian-American writer, producer, and director Ahmed Amer has carved a remarkable path—one that is both fulfilling and transformative—establishing himself as one of the Arab filmmakers to watch out for and a game-changing force in the entertainment industry.
He launched his writing career with Winter of Discontent (2012), Egypt’s Oscar submission, a film he co-wrote that premiered at the Venice Film Festival. He later wrote Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim (2016), based on a story by Ibrahim El Batout, which won three Final Cut Venice awards and the Best Actor Award at the Dubai International Film Festival.
Amer also co-wrote Feathers (2021), which won Cannes’ Critics’ Week Grand Prize—becoming the first Egyptian feature to receive such an honor—and Ghodwa (2021), written with Dhafer L’Abidine in his directorial debut. Most recently he co-wrote My father’s scent (2025) directed by Mohamed Siam and starring Ahmed Malek and Kamel El Basha, which premiered at the Warsaw Film Festival and had its Arab world premiere at El Gouna Film Festival.
Amer’s directorial debut, Kiss Me Not (2018), Egypt’s first satirical mockumentary, world premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival and went on to screen at the Shanghai and Miami film festivals.
Through his company A.A. Films, Amer has co-produced a number of shorts and features that have toured the international festival circuit, including Aisha Can’t Fly Away (Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard) and Once Upon a Time in Gaza (Best Director Award, Cannes Film Festival). He also served as the main producer on 50 Meters (CPH:DOX and El Gouna Film Festival).
Looking ahead, Amer has several projects in the works, including The Passport by Rakan Mayasi, which he co-wrote and which was selected for La Fabrique at the Cannes Film Festival 2025, winning the Sørfond Award. He is also the main producer and co-writer of Hamlet From the Slums—selected for the Cannes Film Festival L’Atelier and Torino Film Lab’s Feature Lab, and winner of four awards at the CineGouna SpringBoard, along with selections at Durban FilmMart and Malmö Industry Days. The film directed by Ahmed Fawzy Saleh recently started production.
Beyond his on-screen achievements, Amer is a Sundance Writers Lab Fellow and has participated in EAVE, Torino Film Lab, and Berlinale Talents. He teaches screenwriting to emerging voices across the region and has served on several funding and jury committees, including Ithra’s Production Grant Committee in Saudi Arabia, the Sawiris Foundation Screenwriting Competition, EAVE Cairo, the Jordanian Film Fund, and the CineGouna Funding Jury.
