WAAD AL-KATEAB

WAAD AL-KATEAB - ACTIVIST AND FILMMAKER

In 2009, 18-year-old Waad al-Kateab moved to Aleppo to study marketing at the University of Aleppo.

In 2011, when protests against the Assad regime swept the country, Waad taught herself how to film and became a citizen journalist, determined to document the horrors of the war. During this time, Waad began reporting for Channel 4 News in the United Kingdom. The reports she made for Channel 4 News on the conflict in Syria, and the most complex humanitarian crisis in the world, became the most watched pieces on the UK news programme – and received almost half a billion views online and won 24 awards – including the 2016 International Emmy for breaking news coverage.

Waad documented her whole life over five years in Aleppo, as she fell in love with Hamza – a doctor – and gave birth to their first daughter, Sama ("Sky") in 2015. This footage became the basis of the feature documentary released in 2019, For Sama. Directed together with Edward Watts, For Sama won the Prix L'Œil d'or for best documentary at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, receiving a six-minute standing ovation.

At the 73rd British Academy Film Awards in 2020, For Sama became the most nominated documentary in the history of the BAFTAs with four nominations, ultimately winning for Best Documentary. For Sama received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the 2020 Academy Awards. Waad has also received several personal recognitions for her work as an activist and filmmaker, including the IDA Courage Under Fire Award, a Special Recognition for Courage in Filmmaking at DOC NYC Festival and a place in the 2020 Time100 List of Most Influential People.

In June 2023, We Dared to Dream, Waad’s second documentary film, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. We Dare to Dream tells the stories of refugee athletes competing in the Olympic Refugee Team, unveiling their lives, hopes and aspirations along their journey towards the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, in 2021.

The film, directed by Waad, was executive produced by Angelina Jolie and John Legend, and produced by Academy Award® winner Joanna Natasegara and Emmy-winning producer Abigail Anketell-Jones of Violet Films, two time Academy Award®-nominated producer, Bryn Mooser and Kathryn Everett of XTR Studios and Joe Gebbia of Studio Gebbia. The film’s original song “Don’t Need to Sleep” performed by John Legend, is a testament to the resilience and enduring hope that are at the very heart of We Dare To Dream.

Since fleeing Aleppo in December 2016, Waad, her husband, and their two daughters reside in London, United Kingdom. Waad also dedicates time to her advocacy campaign, Action For Sama. The campaign, launched in 2019, focuses on utilising FOR SAMA as a unique educational tool to build more empathetic responses to the situation in Syria and end impunity for the war crimes committed there. Action For Sama campaign’s ultimate aim is the pursuit of accountability for the perpetrators of war crimes in Syria as conducted through the targeting of civilians and hospitals.