2020 Fritt Ord Foundation Prize to Deeyah Khan

November 9 2020

PRESS RELEASE 9 November 2020

The 2020 Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is awarded to Deeyah Khan for her intrepid, methodical and innovative documentary films on extremism.

Norwegian-Pakistani Deeyah Khan (43) is one of today’s most influential directors of socially relevant and timely documentary films. She works at the international level and enjoys a large following the world over, not least in Norway.

“Her films are sensitive and bold in their attempts to understand and to enlighten, addressing several of the most controversial topics of our time. This results in documentary films that are both artistically powerful and journalistically original”, comments Grete Brochmann, chair of the Fritt Ord Board.

“Deeyah Khan is an extremely important practitioner of artistic freedom of expression. Her documentaries manage to deal with extremists constructively rather than by bringing them to silence. Her confrontations with militant activists, such as Islamists and Neo-Nazis, trigger changes in the extremists as well as in those of us who see her films. Khan occupies a rare position because she meets extremist forces and engages them in challenging, but calm talks”, Brochmann adds.

Deeyah Khan is making news with two new documentaries this autumn, both from Trump’s USA. The one is entitled America’s War on Abortion, the other, Muslim in Trump’s America. Both have recently premiered internationally and on Norway’s public broadcaster NRK.

Khan debuted in 2012 with a documentary about honour killing entitled Banaz. A Love Story. 2018 marked the début of the documentary on US right-wing extremism, White Right. Meeting the Enemy. Both these films won Emmy awards. 2015 marked the release of the documentary Jihad. A Story of the Others, while Islam’s Non-Believers was released the following year.

The prize laureate

Deeyah Khan (born on 7 August 1977 in Oslo, Norway) is of Norwegian-Pakistani descent. She grew up as Deepika Thathaal, making a name for herself as a musician and singer at an early age. In 1997, she left Norway and moved to London in the wake of smears and harassment against her from conservative Norwegian Muslims. In addition to her work on the documentary films, she has championed persecuted female artists, young Muslim women’s artistic endeavours and opportunities for freedom of expression, founding several organisations that work towards these goals.

The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize

The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the Foundation’s highest honour. The prize consists of NOK 500 000 and a statuette signed Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. on Sunday, 13 December at the Oslo Opera House.

The Fritt Ord Foundation

The Fritt Ord Foundation is a private non-profit foundation that aspires to promote freedom of expression, public debate, art and culture. The Fritt Ord Foundation Board consists of Grete Brochmann (Chair), Bård Vegar Solhjell (Deputy Chair), Christian Bjelland, Guri Hjeltnes, Anine Kierulf, Frank Rossavik and Sigrun Slapgard. Knut Olav Åmås is executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation.

Contact

Deeyah Khan, email deeyah@fuuse.net.

Chair of the Fritt Ord Board, Grete Brochmann, mobile +47 992 78730.

Project Director, Bente Roalsvig, mobile +47 916 13340.

Update

The award ceremony is postponed untill 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. New date to be announced.

News

The freelance study is completed in 2025

October 15 2025

The share of freelancers in the media has been increasing for years in many countries, but until recently, there has been little research-based knowledge about the scope of freelance work and the working conditions of journalists, photographers, and critics without permanent employment in the media.

The Genocide in Gaza and Big Tech

October 14 2025

Sunday, 19 October 2025 at 3.30 PM at Cinemateket, Oslo
Fritt Ord, Masahat and Oslo Dokumentarkino invite you to a lecture and conversation with Nadim Nashif about Big Tech’s complisity in the genocide in Gaza.

New Oxford fellow – How Journalists Interview “Monsters and Victims”

October 14 2025

VG journalist Håkon F. Høydal has been awarded Fritt Ord’s journalism fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford in the spring of 2026.
His project explores what journalists can learn from new trauma research when interviewing both “monsters and victims” in crime and abuse cases.

What's happening in Georgia?

September 22 2025

Monday 29 September 2025 at 6.30–8 pm at Vega Scene, Oslo

“While art is often relegated to the bottom of financial priorities, it paradoxically becomes the first target of dictators.”

Fritt Ord invites you to a presentation of a hyper-relevant, upcoming documentary film “Untitled” from Georgia and a conversation with two film directors about the political developments in the country in collaboration with Oslo Dokumentarkino, Stray Dogs Norway, Viken Filmsenter and the Norwegian Film Federation. Journalist Ingerid Salvesen is the moderator. For the safety of the filmmakers, we will not mention their names in advance.