Soraya HOSNI

Soraya Hosni is a film maker and cultural diplomate who dreams in eight languages. She uses stories, video and photography as a mean to transmit intergenerational knowledge and empower isolated communities.

She received her M.A. in Sociology with honors and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Social Anthropology at the EHESS Paris. Her thesis is an Inquiry into ways of knowing the volcano of Ambrym.

Research assistant for in the Ambrym DoBes Project, she specialized in cultural documentation and knowledge preservation. The result of her work is on display as an installation curated for the Humboldt-Box Berlin as well as on the film series created for the Volkswagen Foundation.

The most recent visual project is her feature film Lon Marum people of the volcano. Lon Marum is the cinematic story of one of the most active volcanoes in the world, told by the people who have the longest relationship with it. It arches creation stories, tragic eruptions, sand drawings, foreign invasion, and the quest for a better understanding.

She had worked extensively in communities within Paris, Senegal, Chile, Palestine, New Caledonia, & Vanuatu but has held series across continents and oceans in over 20 countries. She lives in Oakland, California.

If she is not busy dreaming, writing or preparing some creative meals, Soraya can surely be found climbing active volcanoes, contemplating birds or just hiding somewhere in the forest.