Deeyah Khan

Deeyah Khan (,, born 7 August 1977) is a Norwegian documentary film director and human rights activist of Punjabi/Pashtun descent.

Deeyah is a two-time Emmy Award winner, two time Peabody Award winner, a BAFTA winner and has received the Royal Television Society award for Best Factual Director.

She has made seven documentaries to date, all have been shown on ITV in the UK as part of its Exposure series.

Khan's father was a music enthusiast and in 1984 placed his seven-year-old daughter under the supervision of Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan.

Deeyah studied Pakistani and North Indian classical forms of music under him.

At the age of eight, Deeyah made her first performance on national television appearing on the primetime show Halv Sju, then performed at festivals.

Deeyah was also the member of NRK girls choir as well receiving some music lessons with African American soprano Anne Brown.

She also spent several years receiving further musical training from Ustad Sultan Khan.

Because music is considered to be a dishonourable profession for women in many Muslim communities Khan faced severe abuse and death threats for several years in Norway.

Initially the harassment and condemnation were directed towards her parents: "I remember my dad having to defend the fact that I was doing music, even as a child. I remember this at eight, nine years old where ... various people come to the house and say, 'We don't even let our sons do it, why would you let your daughter do this?'".

Despite the increased pressure and threats of violence Khan's family continued to support her.

After being attacked on stage at her own concert and enduring sustained intimidation, she moved to London at the age of 17 to live and work.

She continued to compose and produce music.

She recorded her last CD Ataraxis as a vocalist in 2006 which featured jazz pianist Bob James, Police guitarist Andy Summers and Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær.

Khan has continued to work in the music industry as a music producer including creating platforms for musicians and artists who are persecuted or discriminated against for their creative expression.

Deeyah made her directorial debut with the documentary Banaz A Love Story.

Deeyah conceived of and founded Sister-hood in 2007, whose aim is to provide an outlet of artistic expression for young aspiring Muslim female artists in different disciplines.

Started in 2010 Fuuse is a production company that tells the stories of marginalized people particularly highlighting the voices of women, people from minorities and third culture kids.

Fuuse creates documentary films and produces an online magazine which promotes the diverse voices of women of Muslim heritage called sister-hood and the company produces live events and conferences in the intersection of art and activism

Deeyah is an outspoken activist for human rights, freedom of expression, peace and equality.

Deeyah actively addresses women’s rights.

Deeyah has written opinion pieces for publications including The Guardian, Huffington Post, The Mirror, The Times, ITV and VG.

Khan is a strong critic of far-right politics and campaigns extensively against racism and anti-immigration policies.

She is also known for challenging the growing radicalization and extremism within Muslim communities.

Her debut film as director and producer, Banaz: A Love Story (2012) about the honor killing of a British-Kurdish woman won an Emmy and a Peabody.

Her second documentary, Jihad: A Story of the Others, nominated for a BAFTA, Grierson and Monte-Carlo Television Festival involved two years interviewing Islamic extremists and convicted terrorists.

The film received its UK premiere at the Raindance Film Festival in London September 2012.

This was Deeyah's first film as a director and producer.

It has won critical acclaim and international awards, including the 2013 Emmy award for best international documentary film.

The film is being used to train British police about honor killings.

Deeyah is founder and CEO of Fuuse which is a multi platform independent media company based in Oslo and London.

In 2016 Khan became the inaugural UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Artistic Freedom and Creativity.

Khan was born at Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo, Norway to Sunni Muslim parents, her mother being Afghan and her father being Pakistani.

Her brother is Adil Khan, a screen and theater actor.

Khan started her career as a music artist, a singer and stage performer in the public eye in Norway from the age of 7.

At first she was a singer and performer of traditional South Asian classical and folk music, then became a composer and producer of world music.

Sister-hood was relaunched in 2016 as a global online magazine and live events platform promoting the voices of women of Muslim heritage.

Her 2017 documentary White Right: Meeting The Enemy was also Bafta-nominated and won an Emmy award for Best International Current Affairs Documentary and the Rory Peck Award for Best Current Affairs documentary in 2018— this film saw Deeyah travel to the United States where she shadowed neo-Nazis at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.

She is the founder and CEO of production company Fuuse, which specializes in documentary films, digital media platforms and content for television broadcasters and live events.

She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of sister-hood Magazine which spotlights the diverse voices of women of Muslim heritage.