Khaldoun H. Shami

Khaldoun H. Shami (in Syriac / Aramaic: ܟ̣ܠܕܘܢ ܫܐܡܝ) is an academic and filmmaker. He is a lecturer and researcher in documentary film at University of East Anglia, Norwich. His research interests include secularism, minorities and militarism. Shami's doctorate thesis represents one of the earliest studies on the treatment of secularism in Middle Eastern cinema and TV channels, where secularism is a controversial societal issue. Shami is the director of the documentary film Secular | AaLaMaNi (2023), wherein a cohort of filmmakers from Lebanon, Tunisia, Palestine and Jordan expound upon their perspectives regarding a Middle Eastern secularism.

Film and journalism
Khaldoun Shami started his career in journalism in 1997 in the Middle East. He collaborated with the United Nations University to create his first documentary film, Halemeh (2003), which focused on Jerash Refugee camp and the issues of Gaza refugees. Shami has worked with organisations such asTheatre Royal, Norwich, Royal Shakespeare Company, Refugee Community Radio, and he has collaborated with Japan Platform JPF and Save the Children Japan. In 2009, he was honoured with the National Media Seminar Award in Kuala Lumpur for his documentary film Rohani. Shami produced Palm to Palm: Love, Home, Family in 2019, this film offers a fresh perspective on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by portraying the viewpoints of three immigrants from Chile, Iran and Greece.

In 2023, Shami produced and directed Secular | AaLaMaNi, a documentary based on academic research, it delves into the portrayal of secularism in Middle Eastern cinema and television. The term "Aa'La'Ma'Ni عَـالَماني" means worldly in Arabic and is significant in the Middle East where secularism is a controversial topic, since the majority often link secularism with atheism and anti-religious sentiments. Secular | AaLaMaNi features discussions by filmmakers and producers from Lebanon, Tunisia, Palestine and Jordan, openly discussing religion, sectarianism, authorities, minorities, and the challenges in the industry.

Shami has been collaborated with medical relief organisations and humanitarian efforts in the MENA and East Asia. He has participated in activities within the Orang Asli native communities located in Perak forests on the border between Thailand and Malaysia. In 2008, He was awarded the Vice-Governor of Jakarta Award in Relief. Throughout his career in journalism, he has covered topics related to refugee and Islamism, and his work includes numerous articles and news features published in prominent regional publications such as Raseef22, Hiwar Motamdin, Al-Modon, Al-Ghad, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, and the Huffington Post.

Academia
Khaldoun Shami is a scholar specialising in cinema, secularism and minorities. He is a lecturer and researcher in documentary film and secularism at School of Arts, Media and American Studies at University of East Anglia. He holds a PhD in documentary film from the University of Norwich, UK. Shami began his academic career in 2008. He worked as a professor of visual media at the Faculty of Mass Communication at Yarmouk University from 2009 to 2013. He also worked at several other universities in the Middle East. Shami developed a specialised module on the Alternative Radio genre and its relationship to the Bolivian Miners' Radio Stations (1960-85). Additionally, he delivered lectures in cinéma vérité, TV News and Reality TV.

Shami identifies the challenges faced by academics, where they are part of authorities, and constrained by conservative attitudes and the fear of confrontation. He believes that leaving academia is an effective strategy for re-invigorating academic pursuits. He concurs with the slogans of Paris Barricades May’68 events, which argued that professors are as old as their culture, and their modernism is “only the modernisation of the police”. During his address at the Aljazeera Media Forum in Doha, he contends that this critique is not confined to the Global South but is also prevalent in Northern countries. Moreover, he cites the initial resistance to conventional academic norms by university students in France, who challenged the authority of de Gaulle and the inflexible social structures. This dissent gave rise to slogans such as "It is forbidden to forbid!", " The economy is suffering, let it die." and " Run, comrade, the old world is behind you!".

Shami posits that the shock method is an efficacious approach to analysing media genres, particularly within the context of the Global South. He maintains that the primary responsibility of academics, particularly within the realm of social sciences, is to challenge established norms. He advocates for university professors to engage more actively in applied studies and interdisciplinary research, which he terms "leaving the academia from within" and integrating with reality in the media industry, the approach which is closely informed by the French philosopher Michel Foucault. Foucault’s methodology in A History of Madness, The History of Sexuality, and his involvement in journalism during the Iranian revolution significantly influences Shami's perspective.

Academic background
Khaldoun Shami holds a PhD in documentary film from the University of East Anglia Norwich, for his research Secularism in Middle Eastern Documentaries: Filmmakers’ Views, Productions, Industrial Challenges, Limitations and Censorship. He holds two Master's degrees in arts and communication from Brunel University London and Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. In his research in 2007, he concentrated on the importance of the narrative of subordinate people as protagonists in independent documentary films; through Laura Poitras's film My Country, My Country (2006), Eyad Al-Daoud’s Deir Yassin-The Agony (1999), and Hala Lotfy's Lost In Costa Rica (2006). Furthermore, he studied engineering at the University of Baghdad in Iraq. Shami’s work in academia has been shaped by the influence of Michel Foucault, Georges Trabichi, Dziga Vertov, Jean-Luc Godard and Naji Al-Ali.

Awards
Shami has been the recipient of several accolades, including the Jakarta Vice-Governor's Award for Relief (Jakarta, 2008), the National Media Seminar Award USIM for the documentary film Rohani (Kuala Lumpur, 2009) and the University of Jordan Excellence Award (Amman, 2005).

Selected filmography

 * Halemeh (Jerash, 2003).
 * Brother: Kailash and Abdullah (George Town, 2007).
 * Rohani (Penang, 2008).
 * Headstone: Naji Al-Ali in WWI Cemetery (Surrey, 2014).
 * Aghwar Voice (N. Shoneh, 2015).
 * Palm to Palm: Love, Home, Family! (Norwich, 2019).
 * Secular | AaLaMaNi (Beirut / London, 2023). [ Cast: Rania Rafei, Hady Zaccak, Deema Azar, Nadia El-Fani, Jehad Abu-Falah, Myriam El-Hajj, Rawan Damen, Jumana Saadeh ].