Jihad Bakr is a Syrian director, actor, and visual storyteller whose artistic experience moves between theater, cinema, television, and documentary content production, combining performance arts with visual storytelling across Syria and Turkey.

His professional journey spans acting, theater directing, live television production, documentary filmmaking, and experimental performance arts. Since 2008, he has worked across theatrical and cinematic projects, while later expanding into television directing and visual media production.

Bakr is the founder of Chalk Theater, established in 2015 as a platform for experimental performance arts, and co-founder of YOLO Center Art for Arts and Culture in Istanbul. He also organized artistic tours and managed theatrical productions across several Turkish cities, contributing to the development of independent cultural projects connected to refugee and diaspora communities.

As a theater practitioner, he performed in more than 30 theatrical productions ranging between classical and experimental theater, while directing more than 20 stage works exploring different forms of visual and performative expression. He also worked as an acting, directing, and performance analysis trainer in Istanbul, Afrin, and Gaziantep.

In cinema and documentary production, Bakr directed several documentary films in Syria and Turkey, including the musical documentary Sami Longa, while also working in editing and color grading for cinematic projects. Earlier in his career, he worked as assistant director with Al Anzour Company in Aleppo on documentary and docudrama productions.

Alongside his cinematic and theatrical practice, he built extensive experience in television directing through Syria TV between 2018 and 2024, directing live political, analytical, and talk-show programs, accumulating more than 3500 hours of live broadcast directing and execution.

His artistic approach combines theatrical sensitivity, documentary realism, and visual rhythm, often focusing on performance, emotional intensity, and the relationship between image, movement, and human presence.

At the 6th edition of the Kobani International Film Festival 2025, Jihad Bakr serves as a member of the Selection & Preliminary Evaluation Committee, contributing a perspective shaped by cinema, theater, documentary storytelling, and live visual production.