Olivier Sarbil

Olivier Sarbil is an award-winning French documentary Director and Emmy® winning Cinematographer, based in London. Over the past decade, Sarbil has worked extensively in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America and Asia, on many of the most pressing global conflicts and social issues that the world has faced. From an early age Sarbil was fascinated with drawing and visual expression, but frustrated by the constraints of the art and literature course he was enrolled in, he dropped out of university at 21 and joined an elite French paratrooper regiment. Posted to Rwanda in 1993, he was deeply affected by the genocide and the scenes he witnessed there. It wasn't an overnight transformation, but the experience eventually led Sarbil to lay down arms and pick up a camera. Living in Thailand, a decade later, he began photographing the violent, rolling street protests between the so-called Red Shirts and the government, and quickly made a name for himself with his dark, visceral style and his uncanny ability to gain intimate access to the most difficult of subjects. From there he moved into cinematography. In 2011 he was severely wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade while covering the civil war in Libya and spent 9 months in hospital. His wounds only strengthened his resolve to continue telling stories that further the understanding of the human condition in all its contradictions. In 2016-2017, over the course of Mosul's nine-month battle, Sarbil followed a group of young Iraqi Special Forces tasked with leading the fight against ISIS. The resulting eponymous film, "Mosul" (2017), aired on PBS Frontline. His directorial debut was met with huge critical acclaim, garnering Sarbil an Emmy nomination for Best Documentary, an Emmy win for Best Cinematography and a BAFTA nomination for cinematography, among countless other accolades and awards. The Guardian described the film as "an astonishing portrait of urban combat, and a gripping reflection of the universal, eternal truth of warfare". For his next feature, "On the President's Orders" (2018), Olivier again teamed up with PBS Frontline alongside BBC Storyville and Arte, to film a chilling portrait of the ongoing drug war in the Philippines. Praised for its clarity of vision, striking images, and unique access, the film played at film festivals around the world, with Variety describing it as "a wholly cinematic, sensory experience, with straight-ahead reportage electrified by glaring streetlights and a panicked urban wall of sound." Sarbil continues to work as a cinematographer on a number of films that are currently in production, while also developing his own films as a director. While building on his feature documentary background, he is also branching out into other genres, applying his signature aesthetic and use of natural light to narrative work. His work has been recognized with awards from a variety of organizations, including, Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography, DuPont, Royal Television Society, One World Media, Overseas Press Club of America, Best UK feature Raindance, Broadcast Awards, Bayeux-Calvados for war correspondents (twice), Golden Nymph, Rory Peck, Venice TV Award, Frontline Club, Grand Award and Gold Medal at the New York festivals International TV & Film. His imagery has also garnered a BAFTA Nomination for Best Cinematography.