Khaled Khatib is a 21-year old cinematographer that is located in Turkey, Istanbul. Khatib is a Syrian who has been barred from entering the U.S. He was due to attend the Academy Awards but in the last minute, he was jailed.
Khatib is a filmmaker of the documentary movie "The White Helmet". He has been prohibited from entering the USA because of the "derogatory information" the U.S. officials have obtained. The "derogatory information" could have meant being involved in terrorist acts or with other related things.
Khatib has been detained in Turkey for undisclosed reasons. He was about to attend The Oscars' awards night because the documentary film "The White Helmet" has been nominated in the Best Documentary Short gong.
"The White Helmet" is a 40-minute film that premiered on Sept. 16, 2016. It is a Netflix movie. "The White Helmet" is about a non-profit organization that is saving Syrian citizens from their war-torn country.
Their director Orlando von Einsiedel, a British national however got to attend The Oscars. Along with "The White Helmet", they are competing against the documentary short films "Extremis", "4.1 Miles", "Joe's Violin" and "Watani: My Homeland".
Khatib is one of three cinematographers that were credited on the Netflix film. He had been given a US visa before. However, because of the circumstances, Khatib has then failed to acquire the waiver to get to enter the USA.
In a previous interview with CNN, Khatib has said that he wants to attend the university either in America or in United Kingdom. Khatib has also shared with CNN: "If we win this award, it will show people across Syria that people around the world support them. It will give courage to every volunteer who wakes up every morning to run towards bombs.
"If I cannot enter the US, I will not give up: we know that we have many friends in US, that there are people that share our humanitarian values. I look forward to meeting them all one day."
Khatib is a press officer of "The White Helmet" group. "The White Helmet" group has been shortlisted to become the Nobel Prize winner.
The Syrian war started in March 2011. Since the Syrian conflicts began, more than 310,000 people have died. More than half of the Syrian citizens have been forced to flee their homes.
"The White Helmets" group was formed in 2013. They have got more than 3,000 volunteers. "The White Helmets" group claims that they have saved more than 78,000 lives. "The White Helmets" group has derived its name from the headgear worn by their volunteers.
Watch "The White Helmet" trailer below:
