Olivier Sarbil is an award-winning French documentary Director and Emmy-winning Cinematographer based in London. Over the past decade, Olivier has covered conflicts and critical social issues across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. With strong visual storytelling, Olivier’s films are intimate and human, conveying emotions through beautiful and cinematic imagery.
Olivier is a former soldier from an airborne elite regiment of the French Army. Before turning his lens to film, he worked as a broadcast cameraman in television news. In 2011, while on assignment, covering the war in Libya, Olivier was critically wounded while embedded with rebel forces. After eight painful months of recovery, Olivier once again returned to the field. Now, with an even clearer understanding of the effects that war has on the people who live through them, he brings with him a unrivaled determination to tell their stories with accuracy and heart.
In 2016-2017, over the course of Mosul’s nine-month battle, Olivier followed a group of young Iraqi Special Forces tasked with leading the fight against ISIS. The result is the award winning and critically acclaimed documentary ‘Mosul’, “An astonishing portrait of urban combat, and a gripping reflection of the universal, eternal truth of warfare”. — The Guardian
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.
