Wikipedia

Draft:Joe Hattab

Joe Hattab
جو حطاب
Born
Jehad Hattab

(1990-03-18) March 18, 1990 (age 35)
Jordan
Occupations
  • Documentary filmmaker
  • YouTuber
  • Content creator
Years active2016–present
Websitejhattab.com

Jehad "Joe" Hattab (Template:Lang-ar; born March 18, 1990) is a Jordanian documentary filmmaker, YouTuber, and content creator. Born in Jordan, raised in Saudi Arabia, and based in Dubai, Hattab is widely recognized as the Arab world's leading YouTube documentary filmmaker.[1] His Arabic-language channel focuses on cinematic travel documentaries, cultural storytelling, and explorations of remote communities worldwide.[2]

As of 2026, Hattab's YouTube channel has accumulated over 19.8 million subscribers and 2.6 billion total views, with a combined social media following exceeding 44 million across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and X (formerly Twitter). He has traveled to more than 80 countries across six continents, producing over 556 documentary-style videos.

Early life and background

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Jehad Hattab was born on March 18, 1990, in Jordan and grew up in Saudi Arabia. He has three sisters and two brothers.[2] He pursued a career as an accountant in Saudi Arabia before deciding to leave his corporate job in 2016 to pursue filmmaking and travel content creation full-time. He departed with approximately $15,000 in savings and a one-way ticket to Asia.[1]

Personal life

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Hattab met his wife Sophie in Taiwan in 2016 while traveling. They married in 2020.[2]

Career

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Beginnings (2016–2017)

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Hattab began creating content as a backpacker, filming travel vlogs from hostels in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. His early videos were produced in Arabic, aiming to fill what he identified as a gap in high-quality, cinematic Arabic-language content about the world.[1] He reportedly spends up to 200 days per year traveling for his documentary work.[1]

Documentary filmmaking

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Over time, Hattab's content evolved from personal travel vlogs into full-scale documentary productions. His work covers a wide range of subjects including conflict zones, remote indigenous communities, extreme environments, and cultural explorations. Notable documentary subjects have included the shipbreaking yards of Bangladesh, life in Siberia, North Korea, the mountains of Pakistan, the Amazon rainforest's Waorani tribe, and the world's highest city in Peru.[1]

His documentary "Giants of Egypt" received over 22 million views, while "Shipbreakers of Bangladesh" documented a rarely-accessed coastal city.[1] His most viewed videos also include documentaries on El Salvador's CECOT maximum-security prison, drug epidemics in American cities, China's advancements in AI and robotics, and explorations of isolated indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest.

Style and approach

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Hattab's documentary style is characterized by cinematic production quality, immersive first-person narration in Arabic, and an emphasis on empathy and cultural understanding. His tagline, "نحكي قصص العالم" (We tell the world's stories), reflects his mission to bring global stories to Arabic-speaking audiences.[2] In an interview with Esquire Middle East, Hattab stated: "The audience always appreciates it when you go that one extra mile in the video."[1]

Social media presence

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Hattab maintains an active presence across multiple social media platforms. As of 2026, his following includes approximately:

Platform Followers Handle
YouTube 19.8 million @JoeHattab
Facebook 12 million @joe.hattab.vlogs
Instagram 6.7 million @joe_hattab
TikTok 5.5 million @joehattab
Snapchat 800,000 @joe_hattab
X 250,000 @joe_hattab

His YouTube channel alone has surpassed 2.6 billion total views across 556 published videos.

Countries visited

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Hattab has documented travels to more than 80 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific.

Africa: Algeria, Benin, Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somaliland, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe.

Americas: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, USA, Venezuela.

Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen.

Europe: Denmark, Finland, France, Gibraltar, Iceland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine.

Pacific: Guam, Kiribati, Tuvalu.

Brand partnerships

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Hattab has collaborated with a range of international and regional brands, including Honor, BYD, Riyadh Season, Saudi Tourism Authority, Oman Tourism, Kia, Misk Foundation, ADNOC, Epidemic Sound, and Turkish Airlines, among others. He has also partnered with Emirates, Sony, and Fortnite.[1]

Selected filmography

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Title Subject Notable views
Giants of Egypt Egypt 22 million[1]
Shipbreakers of Bangladesh Shipbreaking, Bangladesh
Inside the World's Strictest Prison — El Salvador CECOT CECOT prison, El Salvador
I Entered the Zombie City in America Drug crisis, United States
China Terrifies America — Humanoid Robots, Smart Cities & AI AI/Technology, China
I Reached the Most Isolated Tribe in the Amazon — Waorani Waorani people, Amazon rainforest
I Reached the Highest City in the World La Rinconada, Peru

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "The world according to Joe Hattab". Esquire Middle East. December 28, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d "جو حطاب". Al Qiyady (in Arabic). Retrieved February 27, 2026.
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Category:1990 births Category:Living people Category:Jordanian YouTubers Category:Jordanian documentary film directors Category:People from Dubai Category:YouTube channels launched in 2016