Egyptian director, writer, producer and actress, born in 1939 in a village in the Nile Delta. She obtained a BA in 1963 from Faculty of Law at Cairo University. In 1972, she graduated from the Higher Institute of Cinema. She also obtained a fellowship at the International Film and Television School from Britain in 1976, and became one of the most prominent names in the documentary film industry in Egypt. She also established a production company, Abnoud Film, and in all her films she focused on monitoring the daily social life of the toiling classes in Egypt. Among her works: The Nubia Train (2002), and Seas of Thirst (1981).