Free Press Awards 2019 Nominations

VII Mentor Program photographer Ali Arkady has been nominated for Free Press Unlimited’s “Most Resilient Journalist Award.” Ali is a photojournalist and filmmaker from Khanaqin, Iraq. His work has focused on wounded and disabled Iraqis during wartime, as well as the daily life of his countrymen. He has done intimate work on the plight of the Yazidis after their expulsion by ISIS. More recently, Arkady documented evidence of war crimes while covering Iraqi forces in the battles for Mosul. After capturing the scenes of torture and murder, Arkady and his family received death threats aimed at preventing him from publishing the stories. Arkady had to flee Iraq with his wife and two children, knowing that the publication of his work would make it unsafe for him to ever return. He has since moved from apartment to apartment around Europe to stay safe.