Nayla Al Khaja
Nayla Al Khaja is the first female filmmaker in the United Arab Emirates and a pioneer of Middle Eastern film on the global stage. Here, she speaks to LUX about the importance of recovering nuance and overcoming prejudice through storytelling.
Nayla Al Khaja is not one to shy away from glass ceilings. Besides founding Dubai?s first film club (The Scene Club, which has over 22,000 members), she has received widespread acclaim at international film festivals for challenging gendered and cultural stereotypes in her work. Now, Al Khaja is striving to bridge cultural difference and inspire the next generation of Middle Eastern filmmakers. Her conversation with LUX is timely: as Saudi Arabia announces unprecedented investment in cinema over the course of the next five years, it seems that Al Khaja?s work is only set to skyrocket. LUX: You describe yourself as a storyteller, is that right"

Nayla Al Khaja: My curiosity has always had a bigger appetite than anybody else around me. What drives me is human stories that touch the heart and mind. The power of storytelling encompasses a lot: it breaks [everything] down to its bare minimum. That?s what brings us together as humans. Film does that in such a visceral way.
Private film made for an initiative under the office of H.H Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid
LUX: Your work often challenges the dominant western narrative of the Middle East. How important is it to you to retell that story in different terms"

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