Amin Matalqa

Birthday: February 27, 1976

Born in Jordan, raised in Columbus, Ohio, and living in Los Angeles for the past 19 years, Sundance-winning writer/director Amin Matalqa makes films about dreamers and unsung heroes. His first feature Captain Abu Raed, won the Sundance World Cinema Audience Award (2008) and was the first Oscar submission from Jordan. Next he directed Disney's soccer drama, The United, followed by Strangely In Love, a Chaplinesque Los Angeles-set romantic comedy featuring Amanda Plummer; and The Rendezvous, a Hitchcockian caper adventure starring Stana Katic (Castle, Absentia) set across the Arabian desert. In Television, he co-wrote the pilot and directed two episodes of Netflix's teenage supernatural thriller, Jinn (2019). Amin has an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute and is an alumnus of the ABC/DGA TV Directors program. His most recent film for Sony, 5000 Blankets, stars Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect) and is in post-production.