Film Forum

In countries affected by conflict and war, Women for Women International supports the most marginalized women to earn and save money, improve health and well-being, influence decisions in their home and community, and connect to networks for support. By utilizing skills, knowledge, and resources, she is able to create sustainable change for herself, her family, and community.

Since the start of his filmmaking career, Hasan Oswald (Director & Producer) has established an ability to capture the human experience through verité cinema. He has covered the water crisis in Flint, Michigan (FORGOTTEN USA), drug trafficking and homelessness in Camden, NJ (HIGHER LOVE), and the international diaspora of conflict refugees for NatGeo (HELL ON EARTH). Hasan was named one of DOC NYC’s 40 under 40 documentary rising stars to watch co-presented by HBO Documentary Films.

Mediha Alhamad (Film Subject & Cinematographer) was an integral part of the making of the MEDIHA documentary. She filmed herself and her family for three years, bringing the audience into the most authentic telling of her story. She’s brave and determined beyond her years and has become an advocate for her community. She has the potential to help other Yazidi women and girls in very similar circumstances, and the filmmaking team believes that she, a Yazidi survivor herself, is the best person to do this.

Laurie Adams is the CEO of Women for Women International, a global organization dedicated to working with women survivors of war. Throughout her career working in leadership positions in Africa including at Oxfam and ActionAid International, Laurie has been determined to use her privilege to accumulate power and platforms for others. She has served as the chair of the founding board for The Other Foundation in South Africa, and as Director on the boards of The Forum for the Empowerment of Women in South Africa, and ActionAid Brazil. She was recently named on the 2024 Forbes 50 over 50 list. Laurie holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy Management from the University of London, a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Women's Rights from Dartmouth College, and has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Deborah Amos is an award-winning journalist and educator, renowned for her international reporting, particularly from the Middle East. She teaches Migration Reporting at Princeton University, where she was first appointed a Ferris Professor in 2012. In 2024, she joined Bard Berlin as a visiting professor, continuing her dedication to journalism education. Amos has spent decades reporting for NPR and has earned numerous prestigious awards, including the 2020 Dart Award for "Syria Torture Survivors Seek Justice," the 2017 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, and the 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award. She also received the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 and the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting in 2009. In addition to her NPR work, Amos has contributed to ABC's Nightline, World News Tonight, and PBS programs such as Frontline. She is the author of Eclipse of the Sunnis and Lines in the Sand. A Nieman Fellow at Harvard in 1991-1992, she returned as a Shorenstein Fellow in 2010 to research Iraqi media. Amos holds a degree in broadcasting from the University of Florida and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Supported by a Humanities New York Action Grant

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