ABOUT

Yassine Atari

Reporter | Documentary Journalist | Presenter | Photojournalist

I’m a Belgian reporter, documentary journalist, presenter and photojournalist. I work across documentaries, field reporting, digital-first formats, human-interest stories, youth culture, crisis reporting and creative factual content.

Basically: I’m at my best when a story needs trust, access, strong characters and a human way in.

My work has taken me from refugee camps, disaster zones and post-conflict cities to youth subcultures, street culture, social issues and communities that are often talked about, but rarely properly heard. I’ve reported from places like Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Poland, Ceuta and along the refugee Balkan route, among others.

I started out with a camera, but the work quickly became much broader than photography. Over the years, I grew into reporting, researching, interviewing, filming, presenting and developing stories for documentaries, television, online platforms and humanitarian organisations.

At VRT NWS, I became a public-facing reporter and documentary journalist. I was reporter and host for Labels, the online documentary series about young people, stigma and underreported social realities. The series allowed me to explore subjects close to younger audiences without losing journalistic depth or humanity.

I was also reporter and host alongside Rudi Vranckx in Breaking Europe, a cross-European project about the political and social fault lines of the continent.

My work also includes the standalone VRT NWS documentary Hoe gevaarlijk zijn drillrapbendes?, which gained more than one million views on YouTube, and Polen paraat!, a VRT NWS / Canvas documentary about how Poland prepares its citizens for the threat of war with Russia.

Beyond documentary series, I’ve reported from and contributed to stories around the Rohingya crisis, the aftermath of the battle against IS in Marawi, the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, the Beirut port explosion, the Ceuta migration crisis, the Morocco earthquake, the Pakistan floods, the Lesbos refugee-camp fire, the Turkey earthquake and several other humanitarian, migration and social issues.

The common thread in my work is people. I’m not interested in parachuting into a place, pointing a camera at someone and leaving with a dramatic quote. I care about access, trust and honest conversations. Whether I’m speaking with refugees, young people, soldiers, activists, survivors, rappers, families, aid workers or people living outside the frame of mainstream media, I try to understand the world from where they are standing.

That approach is also why I like working across different formats. Some stories need a serious documentary. Others need a lighter, more accessible tone. Some need a field report, a studio conversation, a social-first video, a radio interview or a presenter-led format that brings people into a world they normally wouldn’t enter.

My background in photography gives my work a strong visual instinct. My field experience helps me move in difficult or sensitive environments. My documentary work taught me how to build a story. And my experience with digital-first formats taught me how to reach audiences that do not always connect with traditional media.

My work has been featured by or connected to outlets and organisations including VRT NWS, Canvas, De Morgen, HLN, Gazet van Antwerpen, UNICEF, Oxfam, Caritas, Team Humanity USA, VICE Belgium, ZDF Germany, Algemeen Dagblad, Knack, De Standaard, Amnesty International, Human Relief Foundation, Humo, Studio Brussel, NOS, Samsung and FOMU Antwerpen, among others.

I completed an Advanced Hostile Environment Awareness Training with Bluespear and obtained an online certificate from Harvard University Online in Humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disaster. I also followed Applied Psychology studies at Thomas More University.

My work has been recognised with the Belfius Persprijs / Belgian Press Award, a Rose d’Or nomination, the Gouden Reuske Award, the Kamera Express International Documentary Photo Award and the VRT Diversity Trophy.

I’m available for documentaries, factual television, entertainment formats, human-interest programs, youth-focused projects, current-affairs stories, presenter-led formats, creative content creation, international field reporting, research and development, field production, photojournalism and humanitarian storytelling.

Languages

Dutch, English and Amazigh/Berber fluent.
French good.
Arabic basic.

Available for