Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen has built an international career by turning stories rooted in Saudi Arabia into films that speak to audiences across cultures. From the mythical fishing village of Scales to the landscapes and pilgrimage routes of Hijra, her films explore identity, freedom, family, and the relationship between generations. Her work has earned recognition at the Venice International Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, and Red Sea International Film Festival, establishing her as one of the distinctive voices in contemporary Saudi cinema.
With two feature films selected as Saudi Arabia's official submissions to the Academy Awards, Ameen has achieved something few filmmakers accomplish. Yet her contribution goes beyond awards. She brings Saudi culture into international cinema through an artistic language of her own, introducing audiences to stories shaped by the Kingdom's people, traditions, and landscapes.
"With Saudi, every film is new. Whether it succeeds or fails, at least it’s new. We’re bringing something new into this world"
Foundations and Beginnings of a Filmmaker
Shahad Ameen grew up in Jeddah with a fascination for stories long before filmmaking became an established career path in Saudi Arabia. Her childhood was filled with Arabic poetry, Japanese animation dubbed into classical Arabic, and Syrian historical dramas. These influences introduced her to different ways of creating characters and imaginary worlds.
By the age of 10, she was already making homemade films with her friends. They dressed in costumes, invented scenes, and performed in front of the camera. What began as childhood entertainment gradually developed into a serious ambition. At the time, Saudi Arabia did not have the cinema industry it has today. Still, Ameen never considered the absence of an established industry a reason to abandon her interests. Reflecting on her early determination, she recalled telling those who doubted her:
“It wasn’t even a question. People thought I was crazy. I said, ‘I’ll make a place for myself.’”
She pursued filmmaking studies in London and later attended the New York Film Academy's one-year screenwriting programme in 2012. Her training strengthened her ability to develop stories that could communicate through imagery, atmosphere, and symbolism. Before directing feature films, Shahad Ameen created several short projects. Leila's Window (2011) won Best Film at the Saudi Film Festival, while Eye & Mermaid (2013) reached international festivals, including Toronto and Stockholm, and received recognition for its cinematography and storytelling. These early films helped her develop the creative approach that would later define her career.
Saudi Culture Through a Different Lens
Shahad Ameen's filmmaking stands out for its use of folklore, fantasy, and spiritual symbolism. Rather than presenting Saudi Arabia only through realistic everyday stories, she creates cinematic worlds inspired by cultural traditions and familiar human experiences. Women are central to this approach. Her characters navigate relationships with parents, communities, and their own expectations. They question the world around them, but they also discover how family and inherited knowledge shape their understanding of life.
Her perspective has developed between her first two feature films. Scales explores the desire to challenge inherited traditions, while Hijra considers the wisdom that younger generations can discover through understanding their elders.
"All I do is learn and unlearn."
This willingness to reconsider familiar ideas gives her films emotional depth. Her characters are rarely presented as entirely right or wrong. Instead, their relationships reveal different understandings of freedom, love, responsibility, and belonging. Ameen also believes Arab filmmakers should be able to tell their own stories without depending on outside expectations of how their societies should be represented. This conviction has become a defining part of her cinematic identity.
Films, Milestones, and International Recognition
1. Eye & Mermaid (2013): Developing a Distinctive Style
Eye & Mermaid was an important early step in Shahad Ameen's development as a filmmaker. Drawing on the mythology of mermaids and the relationship between fathers and daughters, the short film introduced themes that would later become central to her feature debut.
Its use of fantasy and visual storytelling attracted attention internationally. The film screened at festivals including Toronto and Stockholm and received recognition for its cinematography and fiction filmmaking. The project demonstrated Ameen's interest in using imaginary worlds to explore real emotions and social relationships. This approach became one of her strongest creative characteristics.
2. Scales (2019): A Breakthrough at Venice
Shahad Ameen's debut feature, Scales, also known by its Arabic title Sayidat Al Bahr, brought her international recognition. Filmed in black and white, the fantasy drama takes place in an isolated fishing village where families are expected to sacrifice their daughters to mysterious sea creatures. Its central character, Hayat, survives when her father refuses to follow the tradition. As she grows older, she becomes determined to challenge the expectations placed upon her.
Through Hayat's journey, Ameen explores personal freedom, inherited customs, and the courage required to question established beliefs. The film's striking imagery and mythical setting create a world that feels both unfamiliar and emotionally recognisable.
Scales premiered at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival's Critics' Week, where it won the Verona Film Club Award. Later that year, it received the Best Film Award in the Asian Feature Film Competition at the Singapore International Film Festival. The film took approximately six years to develop, reflecting Ameen's commitment to refining its story and artistic direction. Its international success established her reputation as a filmmaker with a distinctive visual voice. In another milestone, Scales was selected as Saudi Arabia's official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards.
“In Scales, I wanted to share how one can escape their own culture and decide to understand and learn new things. With Hijra, I wanted to do the opposite.”
3. Hijra (2025): A Journey Through the Kingdom
Six years after Scales, Ameen returned with Hijra, an ambitious road drama set across Saudi Arabia. Set in 2001, the film follows a grandmother, Sitti, travelling with her two granddaughters, Sarah and Janna, on a pilgrimage to Makkah. When Sarah disappears, Sitti and Janna begin searching for her, travelling north through the Kingdom. Their journey becomes an exploration of family history, faith, and the different experiences of Saudi women across generations.
Unlike the imaginary setting of Scales, Hijra draws heavily on the geography and cultural diversity of Saudi Arabia. The production was filmed across eight locations, including Taif, Jeddah, Madinah, AlUla, Tabuk, NEOM, Duba, and Wadi Al-Faraa. These locations bring the country's mountains, deserts, cities, and historical routes into the story. The landscapes become part of the characters' experiences, allowing international audiences to discover different sides of the Kingdom through cinema.g
Ameen developed the project with Iraqi filmmaker and producer Mohamed Al-Daradji. The production also received support from institutions including the Red Sea Fund, Film AlUla, Saudi Film Commission, NEOM Media, and Ithra Film Fund. Hijra premiered in the Venice Spotlight section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in 2025, where it won the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film. Its success continued at the 2025 Red Sea International Film Festival, where it received the Yusr Jury Prize and Film AlUla Best Saudi Film Award. The film was also selected as Saudi Arabia's official submission to the 98th Academy Awards, making it Shahad Ameen's second feature to represent the Kingdom in the international feature film selection process.
Saudi Film Festival (2026): Recognition at Home
In July 2026, Hijra received another significant honour when it won the Golden Palm Award for Best Feature Film at the 12th Saudi Film Festival, held at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran. The award marked an important moment in Ameen's career. After years of international screenings and recognition, her work received one of Saudi Arabia's leading national film honours.
It also reflected the development of the local film industry. Ameen began pursuing filmmaking when professional opportunities in the Kingdom were limited. By 2026, she was receiving national recognition within a growing industry supported by festivals, film institutions, and production initiatives.
Bringing Saudi Stories to Global Audiences
Shahad Ameen's work contributes to a changing international understanding of Saudi cinema. Her films introduce audiences to stories that are culturally specific without limiting their meaning to one country or community. In Scales, an imagined village becomes the setting for a story about courage and personal choice. In Hijra, a family journey introduces audiences to Saudi Arabia's geographical diversity and the relationships between different generations of women.
The films also show how Saudi storytelling can take different creative forms. Ameen does not rely on a single genre or filmmaking technique. Her work moves between mythology, fantasy, realistic drama, and spiritual exploration while maintaining a recognisable artistic identity. Her career has developed alongside Saudi Arabia's expanding cultural sector under Vision 2030. With cinemas, film funds, production facilities, and international festivals creating new opportunities, Saudi filmmakers are gaining more ways to develop and share their work.
Ameen is part of the generation demonstrating what these opportunities can produce: original films based on Saudi culture that compete and receive recognition internationally. She has also helped introduce emerging Saudi talent to wider audiences. Hijra, for example, gave young actress Lamar Faden a major breakthrough role, demonstrating how local productions can create opportunities for the next generation of performers.
A New Chapter for Saudi Cinema
For Shahad Ameen, cinema remains a way to discover new perspectives on the culture and experiences that shaped her. Her journey has taken her from making films with childhood friends in Jeddah to presenting her work at some of the world's most recognised international film festivals.
With Scales and Hijra, she has demonstrated that Saudi filmmakers can develop original cinematic styles while remaining closely connected to their cultural roots. Her stories are personal, visually distinctive, and open to audiences from different backgrounds.
As Saudi Arabia's film industry continues to grow, Ameen's career offers an example of how local stories can achieve international recognition through strong storytelling and an individual artistic vision.
