Tahani Rached was born on May 16, 1947, in Cairo, Egypt. In 1966, she moved to Montreal to pursue painting. She was a student at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal where she studied painting for two years. She became more involved with the community and thus, turned to filmmaking.She was hired as a staff filmmaker by Canada’s National Film Board in 1981. Rached however, left the Film Board in 2004 to return to Egypt to make films. In 2023 she was named the recipient of the Prix Albert-Tessier for her career achievements.