Marta Kasztelan

Marta is a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker covering Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. She has been based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, since 2012 but her work often takes her to neighbouring countries and to Poland, where she was born and lived until 2001.

Her work has been published in The Guardian, where she is a contributor, Al Jazeera, Newsweek, Vice, Southeast Asia Globe, Voice of America and South China Morning Post, among many others.

Marta’s investigations took her into the heart of one of Poland’s most notorious far right groups; saw her hang out with employees of a multinational company linked to a banned sect promoting polygamy in Malaysia, where she also exposed the practice of female genital mutilation; led her to highlight the plight of Nigerian football players trafficked to Cambodia.

When not working as a journalist, she produces and shoots videos for private clients and non-profit organizations. Some of her clients include: the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia (UN OHCHR), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), SNV Development Organization, People in Need, RightBrain Foundation and Momentum.Travel.

A human rights lawyer by education, Marta worked as a legal advisor and researcher for non-governmental organizations in the UK, India and Cambodia, before turning to journalism. She specialises in women’s rights and corporate-related human rights abuses.

She is a member of Ruom, a Cambodia-based collective of journalists passionate about social reportage and is the co-founder of Turren, a video production company making pretty awesome videos.

Marta is bilingual, fluent in English and Polish, with very strong French and German. She is available for freelance assignments worldwide.