Jihad Al-khatib

The story of a young man, born in Saudi Arabia, who moved to Palestine at the age of 10. In the summer of 2015, the summer in which thousands of refugees from Syria and Iraq came to Austria, he also arrives in the country. Not least because of his name and the disastrous connotations and fatal reputation of the word jihad in the West, he faces countless challenges. "We are somehow also the name we bear, but are not responsible if someone uses it incorrectly. As human beings, we have the right to fight back when we are wronged. The best way to fight back, against the violence I experience because of my name, is to make a DIY theater piece about myself. Jihad is the name my father gave me 29 years ago in Saudi Arabia, where our teachers taught us art was haram, forbidden, in Islam."

Jihad Al-khatib was born in Saudi Arabia in 1988 and moved to Palestine in 1998, where he started high school. After high school he wanted to go to Syria to study acting, but that was not possible, so he decided to study management at Al-Quds Open University in Ramallah. He was able to play his first role in the movie "Habibe Rasak Kharban". This motivated him to apply to the drama school. During his education he had the opportunity to act in different theater and also film projects. In 2015-2016 he was part of a European Voluntary Service project under Erasmus+ in Perg in Upper Austria. After that he moved to Vienna and started working here as an actor, so far in three film projects.