With audience‑favorite works to her credit, Egyptian screenwriter Maha El‑Wazir — also a respected script doctor, creative producer, and drama professor — has established herself as one of the most distinctive and influential voices in the contemporary art scene.
A graduate of the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University, she holds a PhD in Film and Women’s Studies as well as an MA in International Communication and Public Opinion. Her professional writing career began in 2012 as part of the writers’ room supervised by Ahmed El Nasser for the Arabic adaptation of the American medical drama ER (LAHAZAT HAREGA), by Sherif Arafa and Ahmed Saleh, starring Mahmoud Abdel Ghani, Amr Waked, Dorra, Yasser Galal, Tarek Lotfi, and Amir Karara.
A turning point came in 2017 when she joined the writing workshop for the landmark Ramadan series HAZA AL MASAA as script editor and staff writer. Co‑written and directed by Tamer Mohsen, the psychological drama explored the consequences of curiosity, secrecy, and the fragility of social façades. The series won audience and critical acclaim, was honored by the National Council for Human Rights, and received several awards, including best screenplay at the Egyptian Cinema Syndicate Awards.
Her collaboration with Mohsen continued with the Ramadan hit NEWTON’S CRADLE (2021), where she served as head writer. Starring Mona Zaki, the series was voted number one by Al Ain Emirati newspaper readers, nominated in 17 categories at the ADCA Awards, and honored again by the National Council for Human Rights. It streamed widely on Shahid, Watch It, and Netflix, cementing her reputation as one of Egypt’s leading screenwriters.
Expanding her range, El‑Wazir ventured into light comedy with Netflix’s FINDING OLA (2022), based on Ghada Abdel Aal’s AYZA ATGAWEZ and starring Hend Sabry. The series followed Ola, now a mother of two, as she rebuilt her life after separation. It reached the global top 10 on Netflix, held the number one spot for three weeks in the Arab world, and was ranked third on Variety’s list of the best international series of 2022 — the only work from the MENA region to appear.
Directed by Hadi El Bagoury, the second season premiered in 2024 across 190 countries with dubbed versions in multiple languages, attracting over 800,000 subscribers and recording more than 4.6 million viewing hours. It topped charts in 11 Arab countries and ranked among the top seven Arab productions on Netflix, the highest for Egyptian content.
Returning to Ramadan in 2025, she delivered one of the season’s most talked‑about dramas, ALBY W MOFTAHO, her third collaboration with Tamer Mohsen. Starring Mai Ezz El‑Din and Asser Yassin, the series tackled bold and unconventional themes, including delayed marriages, the mohallel system, and domestic abuse, earning both critical and commercial success.
In parallel with her television work, El‑Wazir has written for cinema. She co‑wrote the short SUGAR‑FREE, shortlisted by the Robert Bosch Stiftung at the Berlin Film Festival (2016), and developed her first feature, VEIL AND TULLE, on Birthmark Films’ 2019 slate. She also contributed to the writers’ room for BASTARY RAGEL (2017), a romantic comedy by Muhammad Ali starring Nelly Karim and Mohamed Mamdouh.
Balancing her dual path as a creative producer and academic, El-Wazir served as head of development at Birthmark Films between 2017 and 2019 and currently teaches film studies at Cairo University. Most recently, she founded her own creative lab dedicated to developing short films and TV series while nurturing emerging writing talents across Egypt and the Arab world.
