Rana Kazkaz

Rana Kazkaz is an assistant professor of communication in residence at Northwestern University in Qatar. Kazkaz is an award-winning filmmaker, whose films have been recognized at the world’s leading film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca, Abu Dhabi and others. Her expertise and interests include film production, Arab cinema, stories of Syria.
With a focus on Syrian stories, Kazkaz’s producing, screenwriting, and directing portfolio includes Mare Nostrum (2016) which has been selected in over 90 international film festivals and has won more than 30 awards, Searching for the Translator, a documentary (2016), Ham (2013), Deaf Day (2011), Exquisite Corpse (2009), and Kemo Sabe (2007).

Kazkaz’s next project, The Translator (2020), will be her first feature film and has won several development awards including the Arte Award at L’Atelier de la Cinefondation at the Cannes Film Festival (2017), the CNC Award at Meetings on the Bridge at the Istanbul Film Festival (2017) and a Tribeca Alumni Grant (2018).

Kazkaz received her MFA degree from Carnegie Mellon University/Moscow Art Theater, and bachelor’s degrees from Oberlin College in Theater and Russian. She earned certificates from the American Film Institute where she attended the Directing Workshop for Women and from the National Theater Institute in Waterford, Connecticut.