Ruba Nadda (b. 1972, Montreal) is a Canadian director of Syrian-Palestinian descent. Her parents settled in Canada in 1964 and her two younger sisters act in her films. In the past three years since studying English literature at York University in Toronto and attending a two-month course in filmmaking at New York University, she has made 12 short films. Before shooting Sabah (2005), she debuted with the feature I Always Come to You (2000). All her work deals with the daily lives of Arab women and the problems they face. Arab immigration to the West is also a recurring theme, and the director investigates how different generations of newcomers integrate into a foreign culture. She is an independent filmmaker and usually ends up financing her low-budget movies herself. She has also written a short story collection entitled Daughters of Palestine.
MFF Karlovy Vary
