ABOUT
Gabriel Chaim, an Brazilian documentary filmmaker, and a seasoned specialist in conflict areas. With an impressive track record, he has been recognized with two Emmy awards in 2018 and won an astounding seven times at the New York Festivals, including three Gold medals in 2016, 2017, and 2018. His exceptional work has been honored with prestigious awards like the gold medal at the Deutschen Fernsehpreis (2018), Overseas Press Club (2018), and Peabody awards in 2018 and 2020.
A regular contributor to renowned media outlets such as BBC, RTL, CNN, NBC, Spiegel TV, and Globo TV (Brazil), Gabriel Chaim has dedicated himself to covering the war in Syria since 2013, offering unique perspectives from different vantage points. His focus has often been on the liberation efforts against the Islamic State from the eyes of Kurdish soldiers. In Aleppo, he spent almost two years documenting the besieged city against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. His groundbreaking work included the use of a drone to reveal the destruction of Kobani, Syria, from a never-before-seen perspective in the war zone.
The year 2018 took him to Yemen, where he documented the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe for two months. In 2019, Gabriel captured the human flow in Libya and the plight of refugees trapped in detention centers in Tripoli. His dedication to capturing the human experience in conflict zones continued in 2020 when he ventured to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) from the Armenian side, producing impactful reports for BBC that went viral. Chaim covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the early days, where he showed the drama of civilians who lost everything in his latest documentary “Shelter, Innocents Under Fire” won a silver medal at the New York Festivals in late 2022.
Among his compelling documentaries are “Syria on the run” (2014), “Kobani lives on” (2015), “Trenches in the desert” (2016), “Mosul, margins of a war” (2017), “Yemen, a forgotten country” (2018), “Allies” (2019), and “Shelter, innocents under fire” (2022), Blood gold for BBC (2021) each shedding light on different aspects of conflicts worldwide.
His artistic talent also caught the attention of U2, with whom he collaborated during their world tours “Innocence and Experience” and “Joshua Tree,” utilizing his drone footage from Syria and Iraq, adding a powerful visual element to their performances.
Gabriel Chaim’s relentless pursuit of truth and humanity in the face of adversity has left an indelible mark on the world of documentary filmmaking, making him a respected and influential voice in conflict reporting.
Chaim has being the first Brazilian journalist to make an exclusive face to face interview with the Ukraine president Zelensky, broadcasted at globo TV, in July 2023.
