About the filmmakers

Jordan Allott

Jordan Allott is a documentary filmmaker, founder of In Altum Productions and senior advisor to In Defense of Christians. Mr. Allott has filmed projects in over 25 countries, from China and Syria to Nigeria and Cuba, with themes ranging from Catholic Spirituality and mountain climbing to international human rights and American politics. In 2009-10, Jordan went into Cuba to film a documentary about Dr. Oscar Biscet, a Castro dissident and human rights advocate who was imprisoned by the Communist regime. The acclaimed documentary screened at over 50 venues across Europe, the United States and South America.

More recently, Mr. Allott’s international human rights work has focused on the Middle East, with a multitude of trips to Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. In 2014, despite significant ISIS activity in the region, Jordan crossed into Syrian under the cover of night to document the heroic struggle of Christians to survive and returned to Syria and Northern Iraq to film his latest project, Our Last Stand.

Jordan and his work have been seen on Fox News, EWTN News, CNN International, Telemundo and Univision and has co-produced projects with the George W. Bush Institute, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S State Department, among others. Mr. Allott has also written opinion pieces for National Review, National Review On-Line and the Washington Times and is a 2012 National Review Institute Washington D.C. Fellow. Mr. Allott was born in Reading, England, received a B.A. in Political Science, Philosophy and Film from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and resides in McLean, Virginia.

Helma Adde

Helma Adde is an Assyrian American woman born in Chicago, IL and currently living in Long Island, New York. She received her bachelors in liberal arts with a focus in Elementary Education from Hofsta University and later went on to receive her Masters in Education from Stonybrook University. She is currently enrolled in an Educational Administration program at Stonybrook University and hopes to receive her administration certification within the next year. She has been an elementary school teacher since September of 2000, and is currently teaching fourth grade at Birchwood Elementary School in Long Island, New York.

From an early age, Helma’s parents had a positive influence in establishing a tight bond to her Assyrian community. A daughter of a Syriac Orthodox Priest, Helma was accustomed to attending church regularly where she filled a seat as a Sunday school student, and later moved on to such roles such as Sunday school teacher, and youth group president. Her involvement in the community went beyond the church to include Assyrian cultural organizations as well. She was one of the founding members of the Diyarbakir TurAbdin Assyrian American Organization of New Jersey, where she is presently serving as President. You may also recognize her work as the voice of “Malfoneetho Sara,” a character from the children’s app Zalineville that was created to motivate Assyrian children to learn the Aramaic language. Most recently, she has been involved with A Demand For Action, working to spread awareness about the recent genocide inflicting Assyrian Christians in the Middle East through political rallies media campaigns and meeting with congressional leaders.

Helma also credits her father for planting and nourishing the pride of Assyrianism in her life. Born and raised in Kamishly, Syria, Very Rev. Fr. Gabriel Adde was an original member of the Assyrian Democratic Organization during his youth. Helma’s earliest childhood memories include ADO meetings at her family’s home, learning Assyrian folk songs, and hearing stories about her great-grandmother, a genocide survivor whose memory has fueled Helma’s devotion to the Assyrian community. During the commemorative centennial year of the Assyrian Genocide, Helma participated in a project that took her all the way back to her roots in the Assyrian homeland. In July of 2015, she journeyed to Northern Iraq and Southeastern Syria to film a documentary that aims to reveal the plight of Assyrians struggling to survive under the threat of this modern day genocide. The documentary, titled Our Last Stand, will be released in 2016, after which Helma plans to continue her work by hosting screenings at various political and educational institutions around the country to create awareness and inspire our policy makers to make decisions for the betterment of Assyrians in the Middle East.

Ninar Keyrouz

Ninar is a seasoned media and communications specialist of Lebanese descent fluent in English, French and Arabic.

She has over a decade of experience in the field of media and communications, including extensive television, advertising & digital producing and directing, presenting/ reporting, strategy, consulting and project management for well-known American, Pan Arab TV networks, multinational advertising agencies, digital media platforms and international wires and production houses.