Kassie has covered conflict and human rights abuses internationally. In 2016, she won the
World Press Photo award for the cover up of
DuPont's chemical spill in West Virginia and was also named
NPPA's multimedia portfolios of the year for her work on radicalization of
ISIS operatives and corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. In 2017 her reporting on the profiteers of the refugee crisis in
Niger,
Turkey,
Italy and
Germany garnered an Overseas Press Club Award, the
ASNE's Punch Sulzberger award and the
National Magazine Award of which she was the youngest ever winner. In 2019, her
New York Times documentary on sexual abuse in immigrant detention was used in the senate judiciary hearings on child separation, and subsequently won the
World Press Photo award and earned an
Emmy nomination. In 2020, she won a
National Magazine Award for her immersive documentary on immigrant detention and was nominated for a
Peabody Award. She was named to
Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2020. In 2021, she directed a
Frontline documentary following an undocumented family during the coronavirus pandemic which was nominated for an
Emmy. After smuggling into Taliban territory with
PBS Newshour correspondent
Jane Ferguson to report on their imminent siege of Kabul, Kassie was part of the
PBS NewsHour team to win the Overseas Press Club award for a series on the fall of Afghanistan in 2021. She served as director, producer and cinematographer of
Sugarcane with co-director
Julian Brave NoiseCat. The film follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school near the Sugarcane reserve in British Columbia. The
New York Times called it "stunning" and "a must-see."
RogerEbert.com called it "soul-shaking," and "profoundly evocative." After winning the Grand Jury Directing Award at the
Sundance Film Festival,
Sugarcane was acquired by
National Geographic Documentary Films and was distributed in theaters before streaming on
Hulu and
Disney +. It won over 30 International awards including two
Critics Choice Awards and the
National Board of Review award for best documentary. It was screened at the White House and named to President
Barack Obama's top ten movies of 2024. == Accolades ==