Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Mother of the Nation, founded Emirati Women’s Day in 2015 to honour the invaluable contributions Emirati women have made to the nation’s progress. This year, rather than marking the occasion for a single day, the celebrations extend across an entire month, running from 28 August to 28 September. To commemorate the milestone, MOJEH sits down with established Emirati women who continue to make an impact on society in more ways than one.
For the final instalment of the series, we speak to Nayla Al Khaja, the UAE’s first female film director and producer, whose trailblazing career has fundamentally reshaped the nation’s cinematic landscape. In line with this year’s theme, “We Emerge Stronger and Better,” she reflects on how the UAE’s resilience fuelled her own journey behind the camera, the importance of turning access into lasting legacy and why preserving the tradition of regional storytelling remains an urgent mission.
MOJEH: The theme of Emirati Women’s Day 2026 is “We Emerge Stronger and Better.” What has the nation’s resilience taught you and what do you think it has shown the world?
Nayla Al Khaja: Resilience, to me, is not simply about surviving difficulty. It is about what you do with it. The UAE has always had this extraordinary ability to turn challenges into momentum, to adapt quickly, and then to aim even higher. That mindset has shaped me enormously as a filmmaker. In cinema, nothing ever goes entirely according to plan, so you learn to keep moving, keep solving and keep creating. I think the UAE has shown the world that resilience can be ambitious. You can protect your identity and values while still embracing change, innovation and the future.
How has the UAE empowered you as an Emirati woman?
The UAE quite literally invested in my dream. I was given a government scholarship to study filmmaking in Canada at a time when becoming a female film director from the UAE was far from a conventional career choice. That education gave me the opportunity to return home, establish my own production company and eventually become the UAE’s first female film director and producer. For me, empowerment is not only being told that you can do something. It is being given the education, access and opportunity to actually attempt it. The country gave me that foundation, and I have spent more than two decades trying to build on it.
Emirati Women’s Day has been extended to a month-long celebration. How do you intend on celebrating the women in your life?
I love that it has become a month-long celebration because one day was never really enough. The women in our lives deserve more than a single moment of recognition. This year, I want to celebrate them through time, conversation and storytelling, by acknowledging the women who support me personally and professionally, and by continuing to create opportunities for younger women entering the creative industries. It gives us an opportunity to move beyond simply congratulating women and really reflect on their contribution.
Which Emirati women inspire you and how do you hope to inspire others?
Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak has to be mentioned because so much of the institutional progress surrounding Emirati women comes from decades of work she began long before empowerment became part of the global conversation. Her work has consistently championed women’s education, opportunity and participation in society.
I am also inspired by Emirati women who enter spaces where there was no obvious path before them, whether in culture, science, business, government or the arts. I hope I inspire others simply by continuing to do the work. Being the first female film director in the UAE means very little to me if I remain the only one. I want a young Emirati woman to look at my career and think, if she could walk into an industry where there was no path, perhaps I can create my own path too.
Which cherished Emirati tradition do you hope to pass on to the next generation?
Storytelling. Before cinema, there were stories passed between generations, through families, through the majlis, through memory and conversation. I think there is something incredibly important about preserving that. As a filmmaker, I want the next generation to remain curious about where they come from. Modernity should not erase memory. Our stories, dialects, humour, family histories and traditions are an extraordinary cultural archive, and I hope the next generation continues telling them in whatever medium belongs to their time.
