Vanessa Bowles is a Lebanese/British producer and director based in London since she moved from Beirut in 2011. Her film ‘Kill Zone: Inside Gaza’ has aired recently on Channel. Vanessa has also directed Queer Egypt Under Attack' in 2023 and has produced multiple award-winning documentaries and current affairs films and series, like 'Once Upon a Time in Iraq' (2020) which won a BAFTA, a Grierson, and a Royal Television Society, among others, and 'Saudi Arabia Uncovered' (2016) which won an Emmy award, the Royal Television Society TV journalism award & Jury Grand Prize at the Golden Nymphs. 

Vanessa is a speaker in the session Voices From: Reclaiming the Narrative

Carol Sansour, born in Jerusalem, is a Palestinian poet and cultural producer based in Athens, Greece. Her work is marked by a bold exploration of identities that transcend national, gender, and religious boundaries, making her an advocate for cultural transformation. Sansour's debut poetry collection, في المشمش (In the Time of the Apricots), was published in 2019 as a trilingual edition, followed by her second collection, Jamila, in 2022. Her poetry has been featured in prestigious international journals such as Words Without Borders, Exchanges, and Arabpop , and has been showcased at renowned festivals like the Festival d’Avignon and the Institut du Monde Arabe. Her works have been translated into several languages, including English, French, German, Swedish, Greek, and Italian. In addition to her literary contributions, Sansour is the director of the Athens Palestine Film Festival and the founder of Dounias, a non-profit organization dedicated to producing and exhibiting Palestinian and Arab art and culture in Greece. Carol Sansour is also an Onassis AiR Fellow for the 2024/25.

Carol Sansour is a speaker in the session Voices From: Reclaiming the Narrative.

Marina Barham is co-founder and general director of Al-Harah Theater and Performing Arts Training Center (PARC), Palestine. She has produced many theatre productions and organized Yalla Yalla International Children and Youth Theater Festival in Palestine. 

Her experience includes management of several Euro-med projects funded by the EU. She is vice president of Palestinian Performing Arts Network, Euromedinculture Network, and TAMASI Collective for Performing Arts. 

Marina is a trainer in the field of cultural management in the Arab world and an active cultural operator in Palestine, the Middle East and in Europe. She has spoken on the importance of performing arts in Palestine and the Arab world at several European conferences, festivals and events. She holds an M.A. in teaching English and an M.A. in media studies.

Marina participated in the Sharing Places Lab in Blanca, Spain.

Marina was speaker in the session Voices From Palestine and Lebanon.

Founding member and co-artistic director Aurelien Zouki studied theatre in Paris, where he worked as an actor with different directors such as Gilles Zaeppfel, Bruno Thircuir, Jean Bellorini, and Nathalie Garraud. He has also participated in choreographic creations in France and Italy, where he was a performer with Rafaella Giordano. In 2007, he moved back to Beirut and co-founded Collectif Kahraba, with whom he created several theatre, dance, and puppet performances (Landscape of our tears, Origin of a Tale), that toured in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Qatar, Russia, Romania, UK, France, Belgium, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland... 

Always interested in body language and all forms of dance expression, Aurélien participated in mask, butoh, and contemporary dance workshops in Europe and Lebanon. In 2010, he took part in Takween Contemporary Dance Intensive Training. Since 2011, he has also been the co-director of Nehna wel Amar wel Jiran, a multidisciplinary outdoor festival organized by Collectif Kahraba. 

Aurélien’s path has also led him to give workshops to all kinds of groups, amateurs or professionals, as well as marginalized populations or domestic workers in different contexts all around Lebanon. In parallel to his artistic activities, he attended several workshops and training sessions in cultural management.

Aurelien participated in the Atelier Beirut 2022 (as partner and expert) and in The Island Lab.

Aurelien was a speaker in the session Voices From Palestine and Lebanon.

Omar Abi Azar is a theatre director and founding member of Zoukak Theatre Company.

He was the dramaturge and director of several of Zoukak’s performances that toured in various cities in the Middle East, Europe, the United States, South America, South Asia and Africa.

He was commissioned by international festivals, theatres and universities to create original work: NYUAD’s Performing Arts Center, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center, University of Houston, Texas, Theaterfestival Schwindelfrei Mannheim, Williams College, Massachusetts, among others. He was artist in residence with Zoukak at the Lift Festival, London, Sundance Theatre Lab, Utah among others.

Since 2008, Omar leads psychosocial interventions with Zoukak, targeting various communities in different regions of Lebanon and abroad (in Serbia and in Calais’ Migrants’ Camp, France); giving drama-therapy workshops and creating collective performances with various groups.

Since 2013 he co-curates “Zoukak Sidewalks” an international performance festival, and “Focus Liban” a platform showcasing and supporting the work of artists residing in Lebanon. Omar holds a BA in Theatre from the Lebanese University, Institute of Fine Arts (2006).

Omar participated in the Atelier Beirut 2022 (as partner and expert).

Omar was speaker in the session Voices From Palestine and Lebanon.