Waad Al- Kateab is a Syrian journalist, filmmaker and an activist.
With her heart-stopping footage from the last hospital in east Aleppo, which dominated news platforms, and her multi-award-winning film For Sama, Waad al-Kateab told us the story of the Syrian war through the eyes of a new mother. She told a story whose heroes are ordinary people risking everything to live free from tyranny: doctors working under fire to save others, teachers educating children in underground classrooms as bombs rain down outside. A story of extreme brutality but also of endless hope.
The film has been nominated for four BAFTA awards at the 73th British Academy Film Awards. The film has won Best Documentary award and an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at 92nd Academy Awards.
The way she covered the Battle of Aleppo has made her won an International Emmy Award for Current Affairs and News.
The film has also won 2019 Cannes Film Festival, receiving a six-minute standing ovation.
For Sama became the most nominated documentary film in the history of British Academy Awards.
Al-Kateab is pseudonymous used by her to protect her family. She is included in Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
