Khazar Fatemi, Press Officer, Journalist & Filmmaker

“What gives me hope always is the hospitality of the people who I meet while reporting in war torn countries.”
Khazar Fatemi

Khazar Fatemi, Press Officer, Journalist and Filmmaker, shared the story behind her title with us on August 9, 2023.

Khazar Fatemi has a Kurdish ethnicity and was born in Iran and raised in Afghanistan. Her family fled to Sweden when she was seven. For the last 15 years, Khazar has worked as a bilingual journalist and presenter on Swedish television.

As a broadcast journalist, she has reported from 20 different countries. The nations she has frequently reported from are Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Kurdistan. But she is also interested in Myanmar, Colombia, South Africa, Mali, Rwanda, and the US. The main focus has been coverage of poverty, war, conflict, climate crises, and endangered cultural heritage at risk. Productions have ranged from 4-minute news reports to 30-minute documentaries.

Khazar has been lecturing for over ten years. Her lectures highlight the importance of democracy, freedom of expression, and cultural heritage. But also her experience covering wars and conflicts with a special focus on women and youth.Her clients have been the UN, the Swedish Defence Forces, the Swedish Parliament, schools, universities, and many others. The “Culture, Identity and Belonging” lectures received the Swedish Unesco Award 2020.

Since 2015 Khazar has been working closely with Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, TAPS founder Bonnie Carroll and as project manager and producer for the TAPS film team. She has produced several short films from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kurdistan. They tell the stories of some surviving families that TAPS has worked with, but also about the work that TAPS does, both in the US and the region.* Bonnie Carroll was awarded America’s highest civilian honour by President Obama. “President’s Medal of Freedom.”

Women Of War is a series Khazar produced for The Huffington Post. The series takes you beyond the battlefield, from Afghanistan to Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. You’ll see women discussing how to invest in a government grant, fighting to stay in school, becoming politicians, learning martial arts, and expressing themselves through graffiti. You’ll go to Mount Sinjar and meet Yazidi women determined to take back their homes from Islamic State or die trying.

SUE SAYS

Amnesty International Press Officer joins us for an intimate conversation on her documentary, her career as a journalist covering war in the Middle East and why meeting people up close and personal in these areas gives her hope.