Laurent Richard
Founder and Executive Director, Forbidden Stories
Laurent Richard is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and the founder and director of Forbidden Stories, a non-profit organisation that ensures journalists under threat can secure their information; the Forbidden Stories network of journalists exists to protect, pursue, and publish the work of fellow journalists facing threats, prison, or murder.
Since its creation, Forbidden Stories has won numerous awards including the prestigious European Press Prize, two George Polk Awards, and the 2021 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Award in the Impact category for the Pegasus Project. Richard was named 2018 European Journalist of the Year at the Prix Europa in Berlin.
In October 2022, Richard was elected a Fellow by the NGO Ashoka, the world’s largest network of social entrepreneurs. With Sandrine Rigaud, he is the co-author of Pegasus: How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy.
