--- description: Find out why Waad al-Kateab is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Waad al-Kateab: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt033d4114ba13d365/698a124716d8841422c389d1/time-100-Waad-al-Kateab.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Waad al-Kateab by Riz Ahmed  EXCLUSIVE - Premium Rates Apply. Please call your account manager for pricing. Mandatory Credit: Photo by David Fisher/Shutterstock (10545683ek) Waad al-Kateab Exclusive - 73rd BAFTA British Academy Film Awards, Nominees Party, Inside Arrivals, Kensington Palace, London, UK - 01 Feb 2020 EXCLUSIVE - Premium Rates Apply. Please call your account manager for pricing. Mandatory Credit: Photo by David Fisher/Shutterstock (10545683ek) Waad al-Kateab Exclusive - 73rd BAFTA British Academy Film Awards, Nominees Party, Inside Arrivals, Kensington Palace, London, UK - 01 Feb 2020David Fisher—Shutterstock Our [understanding of war](https://time.com/tag/conflict/ "undefined") is historically mediated through soldiers and [war reporters](https://time.com/5891185/christina-lamb-new-book-our-bodies-their-battlefield/ "undefined"); it’s dominated by battle scenes and colored in khaki. It is often informed by the stories of men, told by men. With her heart-stopping footage from [the last hospital in east Aleppo](https://time.com/4314276/aleppo-hospital-attack/ "undefined"), which dominated news platforms, and her multi-award-winning film _For Sama,_ [Waad al-Kateab](https://time.com/5779008/waad-al-kateab-syria-for-sama/ "undefined") told us the story of the [Syrian war](https://time.com/5162409/syria-civil-war-proxy-battles/ "undefined") through the eyes of a new mother. She told a story whose heroes are ordinary people risking everything to live free from tyranny: doctors working under fire to save others, teachers educating children in underground classrooms as bombs rain down outside. A story of extreme brutality but also of endless hope. In a year when film awards were, once again, criticized for their lack of diversity, it was incredible to see Waad, a Muslim refugee woman, walk the red carpet at [the Oscars](https://time.com/5776917/2020-oscars-the-cave-for-sama/ "undefined") alongside her young daughter, wearing a gown embroidered with a poem in Arabic that read, “We dared to dream and we will not regret dignity.” I am in awe of her refusal to give up that dream. _Ahmed is an Emmy Award–winning actor_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888171/waad-al-kateab/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888171/waad-al-kateab/"},"headline":"Waad al-Kateab","datePublished":"2020-09-22T20:18:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:19.065Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888171/waad-al-kateab/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Pioneers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt033d4114ba13d365/698a124716d8841422c389d1/time-100-Waad-al-Kateab.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt033d4114ba13d365/698a124716d8841422c389d1/time-100-Waad-al-Kateab.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888171/waad-al-kateab/","name":"Waad al-Kateab"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | Waad Al-Kateab","description":"Filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab, who made \"For Sama\" about the war in Syria, is on the 2020 TIME100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/95mGZ3ng/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-09-23T01:36:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/95mGZ3ng.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888171/waad-al-kateab/","duration":"PT2M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888171/waad-al-kateab/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```