W-Star

Panel Discussion

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Following the film screenings, a panel discussion brought together filmmakers, activists, researchers, and community voices to reflect on the stories presented through the films and the wider questions they raised about migration and representation.

The discussion explored how migrant women can move from being represented by others to becoming active storytellers and authors of their own narratives. The panel also reflected on the role of film, media, and storytelling in challenging stereotypes and creating more nuanced understandings of migration, identity, and belonging.

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Moderator

Julie Nakzi

Syrian creative professional, photographer, and film editor based in Utrecht. Her work focuses primarily on portraiture, exploring identity, memory, and emotional nuance. She is interested in human behavior and anthropology, subtle themes that quietly inform her work in both photography and film.

Julie approaches both photography and film as a way to examine how personal and collective histories shape the way people move through the world. Her images are often described as dreamy and nostalgic, blending aesthetics with an ongoing reflection on the intimate, psychological layers of human experience.

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Panelists

Batoul Karbijha

Syrian documentary filmmaker and journalist based in Amsterdam. Her work explores migration, displacement, and human rights through intimate, character-driven storytelling. Her debut documentary My Maysoon, which tells the story of missing refugees in the Mediterranean, won Best Film at Syrian Docs, received the Best Human Rights Documentary Award at the Toronto International Women Film Festival, and the Silver Horizon Award at the Hollywood Arab Film Festival. She also directed Home in Two Countries, a documentary examining the challenges refugee children face while building a sense of belonging in a new homeland.

Batoul is the co-founder of the Families of Missing Asylum Seekers association, where she advocates for the rights of missing migrants and their families, working to uncover the fate of the disappeared and promote justice and accountability.

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Micha Adarian

a journalist, educator, and advocate dedicated to amplifying the voices of survivors. She uses storytelling as a tool for healing and resilience. As a speaker, Micha brings a raw, authentic perspective on what it means to reclaim one's narrative and demand joy in a world that expects only survival!

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Yordi Lassoy-Tekle

Social entrepreneur and intercultural mediator. She is the founding director of Migration Inc., a migrant and women-led organisation working at the intersection of migration, integration, and diversity and inclusion, and co-founder of P4Mi (Platform for Migration and Inclusion).

Her work focuses on community building, women’s empowerment, and changing narratives through storytelling, dialogue, and awareness sessions. A core part of her work is re-empowering migrant women and migrants more broadly to recognise and use their full potential as leaders, entrepreneurs, and change-makers, strengthening participation and a sense of belonging.

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Eleni Diker

Researcher and practitioner with many years of experience in the development and humanitarian fields, focusing mostly on migration. She co-founded BoMoVu, an Istanbul-based NGO that supports girls, boys, women, and displaced people through sports and art. She works at Oxfam Novib, while continuing to contribute to BoMoVu’s mission back home. At Oxfam, she helps connect people and ideas across countries, support quality and learning among partners in the Dutch Relief Alliance, and conducts research challenging dominant migration narratives through the lens of mobility justice.

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Eszti Galantai

Communications professional, working at the nexus of migration, social justice and feminism. She has been with New Women Connectors for the past year, where she focuses on strategic communications around meaningful social transformation in The Netherlands and around Europe. She also works for Rederij Lampedusa, an Amsterdam-based non-governmental organisation shining light on Amsterdam’s migration history through boats once used by people on the move.

Her work and activism are centered around racial and mobility justice, grounded in the belief that shifting narratives is both necessary and possible.