Salma Abdo is a filmmaker, media producer, and communications strategist based in Cologne, Germany, with roots in Damascus. Since beginning on Syrian film sets in 2006, they have developed a cross-border practice spanning Syria, the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, and Germany, working across film, audio, design, and participatory storytelling.
Their work focuses on creating media that amplifies marginalized voices, supports LGBTQI+ safer spaces, and contributes to anti-racist and pro-democracy narratives. Drawing on expertise in post-production, sound design, and conceptual media development, Salma combines artistic precision with political clarity to create narratives that reflect complexity, resilience, and collective imagination.
As part of the Cologne-based collective In-Haus e.V., they continue to develop media strategies, cultural projects, and communication campaigns that bridge art, activism, and community engagement.
Drawing from lived experiences of migration, xenophobia, and displacement, Salma approaches media as both creative expression and social intervention. Their projects emphasize empowerment, participatory placemaking, and diverse representation, seeking to challenge dominant narratives and contribute to long-term cultural change.
Rooted in abolitionist, feminist, and anti-colonial values, they understand storytelling as a political act: a means of reclaiming memory, questioning injustice, and imagining more equitable futures. In recent years, their work has contributed to Germany’s pro-democracy media landscape through campaigns, publications, and community-centered cultural initiatives.
Research & Inquiry
Alongside their media practice, Salma explores questions of trauma, spirituality, memory, and collective transformation. Influenced by decolonial thought, somatic healing, abolitionist frameworks, and Black radical traditions, their research examines how personal and collective histories shape identity, belonging, resistance, and liberation.
Whether through writing, filmmaking, or community-based media projects, they remain interested in the relationship between inner and outer worlds—treating storytelling as a practice of cultural reimagining, healing, and worldbuilding.
