Filmmaker Sam Kadi says he’ll be looking for honest, impactful storytelling when he helps judge the entries for this year’s Student Voices Short Film Contest.

Kadi – an “engineer by trade, filmmaker by choice,” he says – came to the United States from Syria in his ‘20s and began making short films and documentaries after a stint as a theatrical actor, writer, and director. He graduated from the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan in 2007 and wrote and directed several narrative and documentary films including the award-winning short film Raised Alone in 2009.

Last year, Kadi’s first narrative feature, The Citizen, debuted around the world. The Citizen, starring Cary Elwes, Agnes Bruckner, and Khaled Nabway, follows the story of an Arab immigrant who wins the American green card lottery and arrives in New York City on Sept. 10, 2001; the repercussions of 9/11 affect his dreams of a better life over the next 10 years. The Citizen is the winner of five awards on the festival circuit.

Kadi was acknowledged by the prestigious Foundation Cinema for Peace for raising awareness for human rights through his films and was invited to address the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands in June 2012.

In his films, Kadi said, he tries to portray issues that matter to people, and educate while also being as entertaining as possible. He finds film an effective medium to tell stories about human rights and other social issues because it takes viewers on a journey to see what others are going through, he said.

“I believe in the power of the people,” Kadi said. “Presenting these issues is essential, and it’s important for people to be aware of what’s going on in the world. If we don’t care about others, no one will care about us.”

As the Spotlight Juror for Student Voices, Kadi will join his fellow jurors – Rwandan filmmaker Eric Kabera, USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Michael Renov and Holly Willis, and last year’s Student Voices winner Cecilia De Jesus – to choose the winning film.

Student Voices asks USC students to create short films that incorporate testimony from USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive, inspired by one of this year’s three themes: Preserving Humanity: Assistance and Resistance; Renewing Rwanda: The Genocide and After; and Risking Everything: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Actions.

Winners will receive prizes of up to $750 and their films will be presented at a screening and discussion on campus and at the USC Shoah Foundation’s annual gala in spring 2014. They will also receive certificates signed by Steven Spielberg.

As Spotlight Juror, Kadi will screen his new documentary short film about the Syrian uprising, Veto, and speak about his work at the Student Voices award ceremony in March.

Kadi said he will be looking to see how effectively the films stay true to the story they’re trying to tell, and how much of an impact they could potentially have on the audience – if viewers are “made to care about something they were not aware of and if [the film] makes you want to do something,” he said.

He praised the USC Shoah Foundation for its testimonies and their ability to educate and warn about how genocide happens and how to not let it happen again.

“I really admire the Shoah Foundation for what it is doing to make the world a better place. Their process [of collecting and preserving testimony] could be duplicated in so many places to cover all the genocides and human rights issues we’re facing today,” Kadi said. “I’m really honored and humbled to be chosen as Spotlight Juror by Shoah Foundation and to be part of their 20th anniversary and the film contest.”