Mishary Alafasy Arab Creativity Oscar Winners Before Him Jun 2026

While German, Wenders is an honorary Arab creative. Why? Because of The Salt of the Earth (2014), his documentary about Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. But more directly, Wenders has spent decades celebrating Arab artists and filmmakers. His presence in this list reminds us that “Arab creativity” is a global conversation.

While Iranian (Persian, not Arab), the Arab world celebrated Asghar Farhadi’s second Oscar ( A Separation won in 2012) because it represented Middle Eastern storytelling at its peak. Farhadi’s script for The Salesman —a tense drama about revenge and morality set against a production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman —won the Oscar. He boycotted the ceremony in protest of Trump’s “Muslim ban.” That act of defiance was, in itself, an act of Arab/Middle Eastern creative courage. mishary alafasy arab creativity oscar winners before him

Long before Alafasy, the Egyptian legend Omar Sharif was the face of Arab creativity in the West. While German, Wenders is an honorary Arab creative