CONTACT
Currently in Jordan.
Jordan: + 962 (0) 79 600 2983
Toronto: + 1 416 315 1760
E-mail: annie@anniesakkab.com
Thank you. Will return all emails within 24 hours.
BIO
A Palestinian-Jordanian-Canadian, I am an independent filmmaker and freelance photojournalist based in Jordan and Canada. As a visual storyteller, I am drawn to explore the customs, lifestyles and values that characterize my subjects, and seek long-form narrative with a focus on women’s issues and social justice. With my work, I raise questions of identity and awareness of the experiences of exile, uprooting and displacement among marginalized groups. My long term photographic and video project, ‘A Familiar Stranger,’ challenges contemporary western views and constructs of Arab women, and raises larger questions of how we perceive repression and freedom.
My first short documentary Hollie’s Dress had its World Premiere at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival 2020, and was created and developed with the support of The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as part of CBC Gem programming. Hollie’s Dress is an official selection in 48 international festivals and has won 15 awards including the Golden Sheaf Award at Yorkton Film Festival, Canada Life Best Short Documentary at Forest City Film Festival, and Award of Excellence at Canada Shorts Film Festival.
My second short documentary ’The Poem We Sang,’ 2024, examines intergenerational trauma and post-memory in the context of Palestine. The Poem We Sang is currently in it's festival run with a World Premier at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival 2024. To date, it is an official selection in
My photographic work is published in Canadian and International media including The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Washington Post, NPR, Bloomberg News, Die Zeit, and NBC News. Previously I worked as Photo Editor for The Globe and Mail. I have also worked as photographer, producer, and filmmaker for various humanitarian organizations including United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mercy Corps, and Danish Refugee Council (DRC).
A graduate of Loyalist College in Photojournalism and a participant in the Missouri Photo Workshop in 2014, Eddie Adams Workshop in 2017, Hot Docs Accelerator Emerging Filmmaker Lab in 2019, Montreal International Documentary Festival Talent Lab in 2019, and Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF) Local Pals Residency 2021, I won various awards including the News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC) NPOY Student photographer of The Year Award (2015) and NPAC 1st Place Feature Photo in 2015 and 2016. My work has also been recognized by Ontario Newspaper Awards and Ontario Community Newspapers Association.
Annie is represented by Middle East Images https://meimages.com
Annie is a member of
Boreal Collective https://www.borealcollective.com
Muse Projects https://www.museprojects.ca
Women Photograph https://www.womenphotograph.com
A board member at True North Photo Journal (TPNJ) http://truenorthjournal.ca
IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5671851/
AWARDS & GRANTS
2024
National Geographic Society Explorer Grant, Level I Program, We Used To Watch The Rivers Go By
2023
Franco-Arab Rendez-Vous, Short film competition, Best Documentary, Jordan
El Keshasheen (Hearts of Feather, Flock Together)
2022
National Film Board of Canada / Filmmaker Assistance Program, The Poem We Sang
2021
Canada Council for the Arts / Professional Development for Artists, The Poem We Sang
Toronto Arts Council, Media Artist Grant, The Poem We Sang
Toronto Palestine Film Festival, Local Pals Residency, The Poem We Sang
2020
Hollie's Dress Short Documentary (Elmira/Canada) 46 Festivals, 15 Awards,
Supported by The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), CBC Gem
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Tracey Lindalee Awards, Top Finalist
Forest City Film Festival, Canada Life Best Short Documentary
Yorkton Film Festival, Golden Sheaf Award
EnergaCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival
Independent Shorts Awards, Honorable Mention
Canada Shorts Film Festival, Award of Excellence
Emerging Filmmakers Screen Awards, Award of Excellence
Cinematography Screen Awards, Golden Award
UK Fashion Film Festival
Fashion Film Festival Chicago
Venice Film Awards
Goa Short Film Festival
Best Global Shorts
Great Lakes Christian Film Festival
GloryReelz Christian Film Fest
Austria International Film Festival
Madrid Art Film Festival
International Screen Awards
Lift-Off Global Network
American Screen Awards
2019
Talent Lab, Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM)
Doc Accelerator Emerging Filmmaker Lab, Hot Docs
NPAC / Sony Be Alpha Grant for 'A River Go By' project
Ontario Arts Council Visual Artists Creation Projects grant for 'Keepers of the Home' Project
2017
Eddie Adams Workshop, Bloomberg 2-Day Assignment Award
News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC), Feature Photo
2016
News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC), Feature Photo, Honourable Mention
Photojournalist of the Year, Ontario Newspaper Awards (ONA),
Finalist Student Feature Writing, Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA), 3rd Place
2015
CPOY College Photographer of the Year, Award of Excellence, Portrait category
NPAC NPOY Student Photographer of the Year Award
2014 National Pictures of the Year Award, Single Multimedia 'Hearts of Feather', 3rd place
2014 National Pictures of the Year Award, Single Multimedia 'To be a boy', HM
The Val Baltkalns Memorial Award, Loyalist College Faculty, recognizes excellence in editorial portraiture
The Peter Brysky Memorial Award, Loyalist College Faculty, recognizes overall commitment to and proficiency in, the craft of Photojournalism.
2014
The Doug Wicken Award, Loyalist College Faculty, recognizes commitment and excellence in documentary photojournalism and visual storytelling in either year of the program.
2011
Pikto Top Pick Awards, Honourable Mention for 'Projections'
2010
Central Portrait Branch Print Show, 1st place winner in Child portrait
2009
Central Portrait Branch Print Show, 1st place winner, Commercial
PRESS
Format Magazine: How to become a professional photojournalist
https://www.format.com/magazine/resources/photography/how-to-become-a-photojournalist-guide
Ryerson Review of Journalism "Developing from the Negative" April 03, 2016
http://rrj.ca/developing-from-the-negative/
NOMOREPOTLUCKS "I’ll be Your Mirror: An Interview with Annie Sakkab"
http://nomorepotlucks.org/site/ill-be-your-mirror-an-interview-with-annie-sakkab-shea-chang/
The WEL-Systems Institute "Experiencing Our Beauty Through A Different Lens"
http://www.wel-systems.com/engage/?p=14508
Loyalist College "Loyalist College photojournalism student named Student Photographer of the Year.."
http://www.loyalistcollege.com/news/loyalist-college-photojournalism-student-named-student-photographer-of-the-year-by-news-photographers-association-of-canada/
EXHIBITIONS
2018
Places in Between, NUIT BLANCHE, group video instalation at Mackenzie House
2017
MUSE, A scotiabank CONTACT Featured Women Group Exhibition, Toronto
2014
The Missouri Photo Workshop Exhibition, September 2014, Platte City, USA
PhotoSensitive AgingPhoto Group Exhibition, September 2014, Toronto, Canada
2013
A Life Reclaimed, Nellie's Women Shelter, June 2013, Toronto, Canada
Insight Gallery 44 CONTACT Group Exhibition, Gallery 1313, Toronto, Canada
Curatorial Project Exhibiting in and co-Curating a CONTACT photo festival featured exhibition Dislocations with curator Sevan Injejikian, establishing the new Riverdale Hub Community ArtGallery, Riverdale Hub, Toronto, Canada
2012
Projections - Ghosts of Dubai's Boom, The Image Works Gallery, September 2012, Toronto, Canada
Acts of Exposure Group Exhibition, Gallery 1313, Toronto, Canada
2010
Canadian Landscape Juried Group Exhibition, Agnes Jamieson Gallery, July 2010, Minden, Canada
Public Installation, Projectons of images in a labour camp in Dubai that resulted in the creation of a series of images for ‘Projections, ghosts of Dubai’s boom’, February 2010, Dubai, UAE
2008
The Incredible Holga and Wonder Diana Group Exhibition, April 2008, Dubai, UAE
ADVISORY
2022
Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF)
Participation in the judging process for this year's edition of TPFF Local Pals Residency
ADC 101st Annual Awards
Participation in the judging process for 2022 edition, the 100 anniversary of the competition
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery, Amman, Jordan