Rabab Haj Yahya (She/Her) is a Palestinian-American documentary editor, based in New York, with over a decade of experience. She is best known for the first feature she edited, the Critic's Choice-nominated Speed Sisters (Hot Docs, 2015 | Netflix), a dynamic documentary about the first all-female Palestinian car racing team, as well as The Feeling of Being Watched (Tribeca, 2018 | POV, 2019), a personal investigation that explores the story of a Muslim-American community under intense FBI surveillance and the personal impact of living under constant scrutiny. The film won Best Feature Documentary and Rabab won Best Editing at Woodstock Film Festival (2018).

Her most recent project, Another Body, won the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Storytelling at SXSW (2023) and was nominated for an Emmy. The film explores the unsettling reality of deepfake technology and its impact on women’s lives. Prior to that, Rabab edited The Legend of the Underground (Tribeca, 2021 | HBOMax), a documentary about Nigerian activists fighting for LGBTQ+ rights; and Apart (Hot Docs, 2021), another Emmy-nominated film that follows the lives of women rebuilding after incarceration.

Rabab was also an editor on the Emmy-nominated and Peabody-Finalist web series The Secret Life of Muslims (Vox and USA Today, 2016), a groundbreaking series that explores the lives of Muslim Americans through short videos.

Rabab has collaborated with powerful directors to edit a number of shorts, including the Emmy Award-winning series Through Our Eyes (HBOMax, 2024), a documentary series that delves into critical issues through the eyes of children; How We Get Free (HBOMax, 2023), an exploration of the abolitionist movement against the prison-industrial complex; and Love the Sinner (Tribeca, 2017). Rabab has also edited numerous documentaries for the critically acclaimed TV series Witness, as well as for the AlJazeera Documentary Channel.

In addition to her editorial work, Rabab is a passionate mentor. She served as an advisor for the Sundance Institute Documentary Edit and Story Lab (2023) and continued as a mentor for the Sundance Contributing Editors program. Rabab has also mentored through programs such as Chicken & Egg Pictures and the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship (2022-current day).

Between projects, Rabab has dedicated time to helping aspiring editors and filmmakers, providing training and consultations in the Middle East, West Africa, and the Balkans. Her contributions earned her the Sulafa Jadallah Award for outstanding contributions to women’s cinema.

Fluent in English, Arabic, and Hebrew, Rabab brings a unique cross-cultural perspective to her work and continues to shape powerful stories that elevate marginalized voices.

​Email: rabab@gocapture.tv

SELECT FILMMOGRAPHY