At one of the most heavily attended talks of the Doha Film Festival, Arab-American comedians Ramy Youssef and Mo Amer laid out a vision for a new era of Arab storytelling, calling on regional investors and emerging filmmakers to back original narratives and expand the creative pipeline. Appearing in a conversation moderated by MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) anchor Ayman Mohyeldin, the duo urged creators to lean into narratives rooted in their own experiences and cultural specificity rather than replicating Western formulas.
“The world is not interested in seeing the Arab version of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond,’” Youssef said. “They want to see something they’ve never seen before. They want to hear from us.”
That idea grounded a wide-ranging discussion that positioned Arab creators not as outsiders seeking validation in Western markets, but as artists working at a moment of rare opportunity. With new tax incentives, fast-developing production hubs, and a growing base of filmmakers trained both locally and abroad, Youssef and Amer argued that the region is increasingly positioned to produce work that can compete on the global stage, provided funding and infrastructure keep pace with the creative ambition.
Amer, whose self-titled Netflix series “Mo” broke ground with its Palestinian-American lead, played by himself, and Houston setting, said conditions for telling these stories have shifted substantially. “We’ve never had this level of clarity around our stories,” he said. “The burden of explaining who we are before telling the story, that’s fading.”
Still, both emphasized that representation can’t dictate creative choices. Amer noted that Arab artists often feel pulled between the expectations of multiple communities, be it Palestinian, American, Arab, Muslim, a dynamic he insists must be resisted. “You’re never going to make everybody happy,” he said. “What I care about is: does this do justice to the story? Is it right for the character? That’s what stands the test of time.”
Youssef echoed the point, framing their shared approach as long-term storytelling designed for longevity instead of chasing whatever conversations happen to dominate the moment. “People see what they want to see,” he said. “Focusing on that will paralyze you. Our job is to make the best work we can and let the art handle the rest.”
A significant portion of the conversation focused on the structural support the region must build to sustain its own creative surge. Both artists stressed that the development of producers, showrunners, and directors is just as essential as amplifying on-screen talent. For Amer, that begins with decisive backing. “Identifying great talent and not hesitating to invest in them, that’s everything,” he said. “Be the wind in their back. Don’t be the wind in their face. Great art will rise if it’s given the chance.”
The conversation unfolded during the inaugural edition of the festival, spearheaded by the Doha Film Institute, which launched with a clear mandate to position Doha as a new gathering point for regional and international talent. Even in its debut year, the event introduced industry programming, co-production conversations, and networking platforms designed to reinforce a creative and financing ecosystem for Gulf and Arab storytellers.
Youssef encouraged regional financiers to be active partners, not silent funders. “There’s a lot more value to you than just your money,” he told the crowd of industry attendees. “Your point of view, your values, that’s what the world needs. Don’t be shy about putting that on the table.”
Mentorship, the duo agreed, is central to sustainable growth. Youssef noted that both of his shows have promoted assistants into writers and, eventually, creators. “If we’re hiring someone to be a production assistant, you want to see something in them that makes you think they might someday direct a movie,” he said. Amer, meanwhile, credited his stand-up mentor Danny Martinez with mapping out his career when he was 17. “He told me it would take 20 years for overnight success. That long-term commitment, that’s what we have to build here.”
The pair also addressed Hollywood’s long history of flattening or vilifying Arab and Muslim identities. Amer pointed to the documentary “Reel Bad Arabs,” which catalogs decades of stereotypical depictions, as a reminder of how deep the pattern runs. But he stressed that the most effective response isn’t critique alone, but output. “We just need more,” he said. “We need to be very aggressive in the way we tell stories … whether it be in film, in television, cartoons, shadow puppetry, I don’t care what it is. We have to do as much as possible to counteract everything that’s happened in the last 100 years of how we’ve been depicted in the West.”
In the end, their message to emerging filmmakers was clear and urgent. As Youssef put it: “Eliminate the question of ‘can I?’ and just do it. The guardrails are gone.”
variety.com
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