Mervat Shehadeh is a Kurdish-Syrian journalist, writer, editor, and visual reporter based in Germany, whose professional journey is closely connected to cultural journalism, humanitarian storytelling, women’s issues, and documentary-oriented narratives shaped by migration, memory, and diaspora experiences.

She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Damascus University before beginning her work in written media and cultural reporting, developing her experience across journalistic writing, social commentary, and human-centered storytelling within Arabic and multilingual media environments.

Currently based in Cologne, Germany, Shehadeh has been actively involved in several Syrian and international cultural and humanitarian initiatives. She is:
• A member of the Masar Alliance for the forcibly disappeared in Syria (Media Office)
• A member of the Syrian Women’s Lobby
• A member of the Syrian Women’s Network

Over the years, she contributed articles, reports, and cultural texts to several newspapers, magazines, and independent media platforms in both Arabic and German. She worked for four years with Sindbad Magazine in Germany as editor of the Arabic section, while later expanding her work toward journalism connected to Syrian communities in Europe and contemporary diaspora narratives.

She currently works within the media team of Ibdaa Platform, in addition to producing visual journalistic reports documenting cultural and social activities across Germany.

Her journalistic language reflects a strong interest in human stories, women’s perspectives, memory, migration, and cultural identity, often approaching social realities through a documentary-oriented sensibility and realistic narrative tone closely connected to lived experiences and everyday detail.

As a member of the Selection & Preliminary Evaluation Committee — Documentary Films Section — at the 5th edition of the Kobani International Film Festival 2024, the Taha Karimi Edition, held under the theme “A Journey Through World Cultures” — Mervat Shehadeh contributes a perspective shaped by cultural journalism, humanitarian storytelling, and documentary-based narrative approaches.