Mahfouz was born on June 15, 1970 in Cairo. He completed high school at al-Fistat military school in Cairo. He studied Law at Cairo University but then preferred to study Cinema at the High Cinema Institute, at the Arts Academy in Egypt. He graduated in 1995.

Mahfouz worked as an assistant director and a film director with several Egyptian and foreign production companies. He worked in 2003 at the Egyptian ministry of culture and was appointed as head of cinema and video tech at the Cairo-based arts creativity centre for three years. In December 2005. He has been occupying the post of managing director since 2008 until the present time.