Film, AI & Endless Possibilities, Jana Charchar & Leen Assaf

Growing up in the UAE, Jana Charchar had to convince the people around her that a career in the arts was worth taking seriously. Growing up in Damascus, Leen Assaf was quietly building a case for the same thing in technology. Both found their path to Jusoor's 100 Syrian Women, 10,000 Syrian Lives scholarship, and both graduated in 2025 with a clear sense of where they are headed and why.

Jana Charchar: Putting Arab Stories on Screen

Jana grew up in the UAE, always leaning toward the arts. In a region where creative careers are not always taken seriously, that inclination required defending. Her family, like many families, had other ideas about what a sensible future looked like. Jana had to prove, repeatedly, that her passion was worth pursuing. "I had to prove to everyone around me that art is important," she says.

She carries with her a memory from when she was sixteen: a week volunteering with Jusoor in Beirut, sitting with children and drawing with them. "These kids had jobs," she says. "Just allowing them to be children, to just play. That broke my heart. That experience was life-changing." She still has some of the drawings.

Before her undergraduate studies, Jana saw the award-winning Lebanese film Caphernaum by director Nadine Labaki. The experience moved her. Not only because the film itself shows the rarely seen grim reality of the poorer side of Lebanon, but because of Labaki herself, a woman filmmaker who premiered her film in Cannes and was telling stories from her perspective. Jana knew she wanted to follow suit.

"Ultimately, what I want to do is tell our own stories," she says. "Show western audiences that we are more than what you think we are. Films are the best way to teach someone." What drives Jana is a question she has been sitting with for years: why are Arab stories so consistently misrepresented to the rest of the world, and who is going to change that?

When the opportunity to study Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine, arose, she was excited to take the first step to be able to be a part of that narrative change. But it was Jusoor’s 100 Syrian Women, 10,000 Syrian lives, that made this dream a reality.

Her work spans experimental documentaries, personal narratives, and commercial projects on politics, technology, AI, and sustainability. Since graduating, she has been working as a Creative and Programming assistant with the Arab Film and Media Institute in San Francisco, evaluating submissions and curating film slates that center Arab voices in global cinema. She has also worked with the Newport Beach Film Festival, supporting programming and managing VIP talent coordination.

Being an Arab woman in a male-dominated industry has come with its share of challenges. Jana is clear-eyed about this. "People are going to tell you you're not good enough," she says. "You should use that to prove to yourself that you are capable." She is a vocal advocate for young people choosing creative paths, particularly as AI reshapes what skills the world values. "It's important to keep fostering art in our society," she says. "And to advocate for more people to go into the arts."

Looking ahead, Jana plans to pursue a graduate degree in something film or production-related, while continuing to build her experience. Further down the line, she hopes to establish a foundation to support young Arab filmmakers and artists, particularly women and those from communities without the financial means to pursue creative education. 

Leen Assaf: Engineering the Future with AI

Leen grew up in Damascus, where she was studying pharmacy before deciding to make a significant change of direction. Her interest in technology had been brewing throughout her studies, as well as a pressing need to leave Syria to pursue better opportunities.

She applied to universities abroad and scholarships relentlessly, eventually being awarded the 100 Syrian Women, 10,000 Syrian Lives Scholarship to study for a Bachelor’s in Computer Science at McGill University in Canada.

At McGill, her focus sharpened on machine learning. Her Applied Machine Learning course was the one that stayed with her most, for its hands-on approach to understanding how these systems actually work in practice. She built a mini LLM and an image classifier through course projects. For another class, the professor selected her from 150 students to mentor and support future students in the class, a recognition of both her technical ability and her willingness  to invest in others.

The scholarship, Leen says, was life-changing. It allowed her to study without taking on debt and without having to work on the side, which meant she could give her degree the full attention it deserved. She also volunteered with International Student Services at McGill and provided class notes to students with disabilities. 

After graduating, she applied for many jobs in a competitive market. In December 2025, she began working as a Junior Cloud and Platform Engineer at Intuitive.ai, an AI-first engineering company, where she focuses on automating workflows to increase efficiency for clients. "The field constantly evolves," she says. "It's challenging but rewarding."

She grew up watching Syria change around her during her teenage years, and those experiences shaped the urgency with which she approached her education and career. She is now focused on building stability for herself and her family. When she is in a position to do so, she wants to give back to Jusoor through volunteering, mentorship for new scholars, and eventually financial support. "I want to be someone who can support the next person the way I was supported," she says.

Two Paths, One Commitment

Jana and Leen chose different fields and are building different careers. What they share is the belief that their education carries a responsibility beyond themselves. For Jana, that means using film to shift how the world understands Arab narratives. For Leen, it means building the stability and expertise to eventually give back to her community. 

This is exactly what the 100 Syrian Women, 10,000 Syrian Lives scholarship is about. To provide opportunities for exemplary Syrian women in a multitude of fields who can be future leaders and changemakers in their own fields and communities.