Ruba Nadda is a world-renowned and critically acclaimed writer and director of Arab descent, born and raised in Canada. She has written and directed over 20 films, including the critically acclaimed "Cairo Time" (2009),"Sabah" (2005),"Aadan" (2004),"Unsettled" (2001),and "I always come to you" (2000),among others.
Her notable films include "Cairo Time" (2009),which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (2010) to rave reviews and earned Best Canadian Feature Film. The film went on to screen at numerous film festivals around the world, including the Pusan International Film Festival (2009),Goa International Film Festival (2009),Doha Tribecca Film Festival (2009),Sidney International Film festival (2010),Dublin Int'l Film Festival (2010),Tribeca Film festival (2010),and Munich IFF (2010).
"Cairo Time" also earned the Winner of the People's Choice award (Film Circuit) and was Rotten Tomatoes' best-reviewed film (Romance) of 2010.
Her film "Sabah" (2005) features Atom Egoyan and Simone Urdl as Executive Producers, and Arsinee Khanjian in the lead role. The film had its worldwide premiere to rave reviews and sold-out audiences at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Mongrel Media released "Sabah" in Canada on May 27th, 2005, to excellent reviews and enthusiastic audiences. Celluloid Dreams is acting as the foreign sales agent.
Since the Rotterdam Film Festival, "Sabah" has gone on to show in over 20 International Film Festivals and has also sold to over 20 countries around the world for theatrical releasing. The film enjoyed a healthy run in theaters in Canada for 13 consecutive weeks. Arsinee Khanjian has since been nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role at the Genies.
Ruba Nadda attended New York's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts in Film Production, where she completed their summer program. Upon her return to Toronto, she immediately began her prolific filmmaking career. Her 13 short films have been shown in over 500 film festivals in 5 years. She has had over 20 retrospectives of her work shown in numerous cities, including Princeton University, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Vienna, Wurzburg, Austin, San Francisco, Regina, Edmonton, Ottawa, and Toronto.
She is also a fiction writer, with short stories published in over 200 international journals, such as Riversedge Journal, West Wind Review 18th Anthology, The Sounds of Poetry, Blood & Aphorism, White Wall Review, Room of One's Own, and Wascana Review.
