Tarik Saleh (Arabic: طارق صالح; born 28 January 1972; Stockholm) is a Swedish film director, animator, screenwriter, producer, publisher, journalist. He was born in Högalids församling, Stockholm to a Swedish mother and an Egyptian father. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of Sweden's most prominent graffiti artists, including co-creating Fascinate. He has also worked as a TV host for Sveriges Television and is one of the founders of production company Atmo. His work often contains techniques such as montages, cut-out graphics and faces with manipulated lip synching. At the 53rd Guldbagge Awards, his film The Nile Hilton Incident won five awards, including Best Film. His film Boy from Heaven was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 28, 1972 (54)
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Director, writer and producer
- 8 on MovieCove · 23 credits in all
What are Tarik Saleh's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Power.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 6
Light 0 · Serious 0 · Dark 6
A split, not a type: Grounded 4 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 1
Gentle 0 · Charged 2 · Intense 4
Steady 2 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 0
Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 3
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 3
Resolved 1 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet2
- Ambiguous4
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Tarik Saleh's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 8 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Tarik Saleh's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
23 credits, 8 with a MovieCove page; 4 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Eagles of the Republic(2025)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
Cairo Conspiracy(2022)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
The Contractor(2022)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all filmsAlba (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Swoon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
The Nile Hilton Incident(2017)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Westworld(2016)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all shows
Tommy(2014)
Midcredits score: 14th percentile of all filmsSeat 26D (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Ray Donovan(2013)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
Lykke Li: Sadness is a Blessing (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Lykke Li - Live on the Moon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Metropia(2009)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
Världens modernaste land (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Blodgruppen (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Gitmo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Om du var jag (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Tony & Sylvio (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
Sacrificio: Who Betrayed Che Guevara (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
En klass för sig (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)
Elbyl (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
Charlie Johnson in the Flames (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The Cairo Trilogy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 23 titles, 21 of them dated from 1998 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Cairo Conspiracy (2022)
Highest rated
Cairo Conspiracy (2022)
Most popular right now
The Contractor (2022)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
3 major awards from 5 major nominations, 2009–2025.
- Cannes award, nominated
- Cannes award, won
- Cannes award, nominated
- Sundance award, won · World Cinema - Dramatic
- Venice award, won
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Tarik Saleh's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 60th percentile, the median of all 6; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 60th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up4
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 8 titles divides audiences: 3 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the atmosphere 73/100 and the pacing 40/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Tarik Saleh work with?
People who share at least 2 of Tarik Saleh's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Theis Schmidt shares the most, 5.
Actors
- Fares FaresShared titles: Eagles of the Republic (2025), Cairo Conspiracy (2022), The Nile Hilton Incident (2017), Metropia (2009)See all 4 shared titles with Fares Fares
- Hassan El SayedShared titles: Eagles of the Republic (2025), Cairo Conspiracy (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Hassan El Sayed
- Sherwan HajiShared titles: Eagles of the Republic (2025), Cairo Conspiracy (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Sherwan Haji
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Theis SchmidtShared titles: Eagles of the Republic (2025), Cairo Conspiracy (2022), The Contractor (2022), The Nile Hilton Incident (2017), Tommy (2014)See all 5 shared titles with Theis Schmidt
- Pierre AïmShared titles: Eagles of the Republic (2025), Cairo Conspiracy (2022), The Contractor (2022), The Nile Hilton Incident (2017)See all 4 shared titles with Pierre Aïm
- Krister LinderShared titles: Cairo Conspiracy (2022), The Nile Hilton Incident (2017), Metropia (2009)See all 3 shared titles with Krister Linder
Producers
- Kristina ÅbergShared titles: Cairo Conspiracy (2022), The Nile Hilton Incident (2017), Tommy (2014), Metropia (2009)See all 4 shared titles with Kristina Åberg
- Linda MutawiShared titles: Eagles of the Republic (2025), Cairo Conspiracy (2022), The Nile Hilton Incident (2017)See all 3 shared titles with Linda Mutawi
- Monica HellströmShared titles: Eagles of the Republic (2025), Cairo Conspiracy (2022), The Nile Hilton Incident (2017)See all 3 shared titles with Monica Hellström
- Lars RodvaldrShared titles: Cairo Conspiracy (2022), The Nile Hilton Incident (2017), Tommy (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Lars Rodvaldr