Rana Kazkaz
Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in the Program of Middle Eastern and North African Studies
As the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in the Program of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Kazkaz will teach two courses in the Program of Middle Eastern and North African Studies that will be cross-listed with the Department of Radio, Television, and Film in the School of Communication. Kazkaz will also deliver a public lecture organized by Northwestern Buffett.
With a focus on Syrian stories, Kazkaz’s producing, screenwriting, and directing portfolio includes Mare Nostrum (2016), which has featured in over 90 international film festivals and won more than 30 awards, Searching for the Translator (2016), Ham (2013), Deaf Day (2011), Exquisite Corpse (2009), and Kemo Sabe (2007). Her first feature film, The Translator (2020), won several development awards including the Arte Award at L’Atelier de la Cinefondation at the Cannes Film Festival (2017), the CNC Award at Meetings on the Bridge at the Istanbul Film Festival (2017) and a Tribeca Alumni Grant (2018).
“The appointment of an NU-Q professor to this prestigious professorship underscores the distinctive quality of NU-Q faculty and their important contributions to the Northwestern universe beyond Doha,” said Marwan M. Kraidy, dean and CEO at Northwestern Qatar. Kraidy also said that Kazkaz’s appointment reinforces the partnership between the Buffet Institute, Weinberg College, and NU-Q. “I am excited and grateful to have partners like Associate Provost and Buffett Executive Director Annelise Riles and Weinberg Dean Adrian Randolph, and I am elated that an NU-Q professor and filmmaker of the caliber of Rana Kazkaz gives us an opportunity to team up, reinforce our bonds, and offer new voices and expertise to the Northwestern community.”