MATTHEW CASSEL
[journalist and documentary filmmaker]
A selection of short documentaries and news reports that I have made either on my own or together with colleagues:
HAREDI DRAFT REFUSAL
For the first time in decades, ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel are being called to serve in the country’s military. The community is furious, with protesters and military-age men openly defying the draft.
2025 | NYT | 5 minutes
[director, camera]
THE ISRAELIS PROTESTING GAZA WAR
In Israel, a small but growing minority has been critical of the army's renewed offensive, since it broke the ceasefire in March.
2024 | CHANNEL 4 | 6 minutes
[director, producer, camera, editor]
FROM REBELS TO POLICE
As the rebels who ousted Syria’s longtime dictator, Bashar al-Assad, transition from insurgents to administrators, maintaining order in the streets of the capital has become a top priority.
2024 | NYT | 3 minutes
[director]
AN EXILE RETURNS TO SYRIA
In 2014, Sawsan Abou Zainedin left Syria during a civil war, while Bashar al-Assad was in power. Now, with rebel militants in control, Ms. Abou Zainedin is working on the country’s delicate political transformation.
2024 | NYT | 4 minutes
[director, producer]
SEARCHING FOR SYRIA'S
DISAPPEARED
Taher al-Zain’s father disappeared 12 years ago at the height of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Now, like thousands of other Syrians, he is trying to find clues about what happened, and whether or not his father may still be alive.
2020 | NYT | 4 minutes
[director, producer]
THEY CAME IN THE DARK
Since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, extremist settlers in the West Bank have been emboldened, displacing more than 1,000 Palestinians, according to the United Nations.
2023 | NYT
[director, camera, producer]
PRIDE OF PALESTINE
Abdul Kareem al-Selwady is preparing to retain his championship MMA belt, but to do so he must face a tough challenger from Brazil. (Click on "CC" to watch with English subtitles)
2020 | BBC | 28 minutes
[director, camera, producer and co-editor]
DEATH OF A TUNISIAN POET
Nidhal Gharibi took his life at the age of 32. His friends say his depression was exacerbated by Tunisia's political and economic situation. (Click on "CC" to watch with English subtitles)
2019 | BBC | 8 minutes
[director, camera, producer and editor]
FARMING UNDER FIRE IN GAZA
Palestinians farmworkers in the Gaza Strip toil the fields every day not knowing if it might be their last.
2018 | The Intercept | 10 minutes
[director, camera and editor]
GROWING UP IN GAZA IN THE DARK
What's it like for a boy growing up under Israeli-blockade in the Gaza Strip?
2018 | NBC Left Field | 8 minutes
[director, camera and editor]
A BITTER EDEN
In Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Syrian refugees who fled the Islamic State are content while working the fields, however, nothing can replace home.
2017 | The New Yorker | 6 minutes
[director, camera and editor]
VICTIMS OF TORTURE
In Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Syrian refugees who fled the Islamic State are content while working the fields, however, nothing can replace home.
2017 | Doctors Without Borders | 2 episodes, 8 minutes
[director, camera and editor]
AMERICAN BELIEVERS
As part of special coverage for Al Jazeera English in the run up to the 2016 presidential elections, I travel across the US to tell the stories of four people fighting for change.
2016 | Al Jazeera | 4 episodes, 12 minutes
[director, camera, producer and editor]
HELPING REFUGEES IN MACEDONIA
Before the world took notice of the large numbers of refugees arriving to Europe, Macedonians like Gabriela Andreevska were doing what they could to support the weary travelers.
2015 | Al Jazeera | 6 minutes
[director, camera, producer and editor]
INSIDE SYRIZA
Greek activist Olga Baloura campaigns with comrades from the "Coalition of the Radical Left" Syriza party in the final days ahead of Greece's historic 2015 elections.
2015 | AJ+ | 3 episodes, 10 minutes
[director, camera and editor]