Invitation to the 2025 Samira al-Khalil Award Ceremony
Join us for the Samira al-Khalil Award Ceremony, which will be held this year in Berlin.
This gathering marks the 12th anniversary of Samira al-Khalil's enforced disappearance. It brings us together to celebrate her spirit, alongside Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada, and Nizam Hammad, and to say that we continue.
- Tuesday, December 9, 2025
- at 5:30 p.m. (duration: max. 2 hours)
- at Spore Initiative, Hermannstraße 86, 12051 Berlin, Germany
- Transportation: bus, tram, subway : (S+U) Hermannstraße
This third edition of the award will pay tribute to women's agency in the struggle against arbitrary loss, absence, and silence. The ceremony, hosted by Syrian-German actress Fatina Laila, will announce the names of the women winners.
A musical program by Palestinian oud player Abdul-Wahab Kayyali will accompany the event.
This invitation is open to all. We look forward to seeing you there.
Samira al-Khalil Award Ceremony of 2024
On 10 December 2024, the Samira al-Khalil association gathered at the Relais de Pantin for the second edition of the Prize bearing her name. This date marks the eleventh anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Samira, Razan Zaitouneh, Wael Hamada and Nazem Hammadi by an Islamist group on 9 December 2024 in Douma, Syria.
The ceremony coincided with an unexpected turning point: the fall of the Assad dynasty on 8 December 2024, after 54 years of repression and terror. A large audience gathered to commemorate the victims of the regime and celebrate its end.
The Samira al-Khalil Prize, hosted by the journalist Soulayma Mardam-Bey, was awarded to two women:
- Neama Hassan, a Palestinian writer and poet from Gaza, whose prize was received by Hala Mohammad.
- Garance Le Caisne, French writer and journalist.
A special mention was also awarded to Zeinab Al-Ghunaimi, a Palestinian writer and feminist activist from Gaza, for her commitment and her writing. Nadia Leila Aissaoui received the special mention on her behalf.
Readings of texts by Neama Hassan and Zeinab Al-Ghunaimi by Rasha Abbas punctuated the ceremony, as well as the broadcasting of video messages from them, who continue to write from Gaza despite the Israeli war of extermination. Yassin al-Haj Saleh, writer and husband of Samira, also gave a speech on behalf of the association.
An unforgettable concert was given by Syrian-Palestinian singer Abo Gabi, accompanied by Mohannad Nasr and Yousef Zayed, and joined on vocals by Rasha Rizk and Harith Mouhaidi. From traditional Syrian songs to songs of the revolution, the whole room gradually began to sing and dance in unison.
The Samira al-Khalil association warmly thanks the artists, the winners, the audience and the Relais de Pantin.
Invitation to the Samira al-Khalil Prize 2024
Joins us on Tuesday 10 December at 6.30 pm at the Relais de Pantin for the Samira al-Khalil Award Ceremony.
The first edition in 2023 was devoted to documentary films. This year, the award will be for writing, and two female writers will share the award.
The ceremony, moderated by Soulayma Mardam Bey (journalist at L'Orient-Le Jour), will announce the names of the winners and the presentation of the prize, punctuated by readings of texts by the two writers, presented by Rasha Abbas (Syrian writer and journalist).
The Syrian-Palestinian singer Abo Gabi is honouring us with a concert, accompanied by Mohannad Naser (Oud player and composer) and Yousef Zayed (Percussionist, Oud player and composer).
As always, we will celebrate Samira's spirit together and honor her as well as the her honorable comrades in struggle: Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada and Nizam Hammadi.
This invitation is open to all. Join us at:
Les relais solidaires, Relais de Pantin, 61 Rue Victor Hugo, 93500 Pantin, France.
Time: 6:30 PM
We are looking forward to seeing you!
Announcement of the Samira Al-Khalil Association
The Samira Al-Khalil Association regrets to announce that it will not be presenting its annual prize on International Women's Day, 8 March 2024. Experience has taught us that the process we initially adopted exceeds our human and material capacities. We are a limited team of volunteers, none of us can devote ourselves to the association full-time, nor do we have the resources to do so, nor do we want to depend on donor organisations. To ensure that the work of the association continues, we are currently working on restructuring it in such a way as to reduce costs and expenses, without compromising the idea of the association as a tribute to important feminist activity and the award of a prize in Samira's name.
We have decided that the association's ten-member board of directors will choose the winner, who will join them in choosing the next winner, and so on. The decision must be clearly justified and based on impartial criteria. The Board of Directors may form part of a wider nomination group, made up of trusted friends, to ensure greater objectivity in selecting the winners. Laureates need not be individuals, and a team of women can be selected for their outstanding work.
Since International Women's Day is a busy day and it is not easy to secure a venue for the award ceremony, we will adopt December 9, the anniversary of the absence of Samira, Razan, Wael and Nazem, as the date for the award. The 2024 award will not be withheld, but will be presented on the evening of December 9, 2024.
SAMIRA AL-KHALIL PRIZE 2023 AWARD
Invitation to the Samira al-Khalil Prize 2023 award ceremony
Dear friends,
We are pleased to invite you to the first edition of the Samira al-Khalil Prize.
The award ceremony will take place on Saturday 11 March 2023 in Saint-Denis, France, in connection with the festival "Panorama des Cinémas du Maghreb et du Moyen-Orient".
Address : Cinéma L'Ecran, 14 Passage de l'Aqueduc, 93200 Saint-Denis, France
Date and time: Saturday 11 March 2023, from 3pm to 6pm
The ceremony will be accompanied by the screening of the winner's film.
Free reservation and updates:
https://www.eventbrite.fr/e/546275814667
Samira al-Khalil is a human rights defender who has been missing since 9 December 2013 in Syria. In her honour, the Samira al-Khalil Prize rewards, once a year, a woman whose path is part of the struggle for the respect of fundamental rights and freedoms in the Arab or Mediterranean regions. For its first edition, the Prize will be awarded to a woman film director. Her film will be presented at the L’Ecran cinema in Saint-Denis, France, in the presence of the Prize jury and the board of the Samira al-Khalil Association.
Samira al-Khalil is a Syrian activist and a former political prisoner. She was abducted with her friends Razan Zaitouneh, Wael Hamada, and Nazim Hammadi by an Islamist military faction in Douma in December 2013. The revolutionary Douma Four were working on documenting violations and crimes commited by the Assad regime and other violators. Unfortunately, the fate of the Douma Four is still unknown.
Samira al-Khalil Association is a Paris-based organization that grants a yearly award to a woman from the Arab and Mediterranean regions. The aim of the association is to keep Samira’s story and struggles alive and empower women active in the fields of art, literature, and defense of justice and human rights.
EVENTS
FEBRUARY 2, 2022 – PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK AND THE ASSOCIATION IN PARIS
FEBRUARY 25, 2022 – OFFICIAL RELEASE OF “JOURNAL D’UNE ASSIÉGÉE – DOUMA, SYRIE”
