Documentary Films | Tamer Ashry

Feature Documentary shot by more than 40 filmmaking teams around the world, the film immerses the viewer in the daily use of faith and spiritual practice. At a time when religious hatreds dominate the world’s headlines, this film explores faith as primary human experience, and how people turn to ritual and prayer to navigate the milestones and crises of private life. The film’s director commissioned or sourced footage from top independent filmmakers from more than 25 countries -- and a wide range of religious traditions -- each team contributing a single scene. The film, sweeping in its global reach, yet intensely intimate, is a tour de force that unifies these scenes into a single work, told without narration, without experts and, for long stretches, without words at all.

The Triales of Spring | 2015

When a young Egyptian woman travels from her village to Cairo to add her voice to the tens of thousands of Egyptians demanding an end to 60 years of military rule, she is arrested, beaten, and tortured by security forces and later punished and imprisoned by her family for daring to speak out. Unbreakable, she sets out in a search for freedom and social justice in a country in the grips of a power struggle, where there is little tolerance for the likes of her. Buoyed by the other activists she meets along the way, Hend Nafea’s story mirrors the trajectory of the Arab Spring—from the ecstasy of newfound courage to the agony of shattered dreams. In the end, despite crushing setbacks, it is resilience that sustains the hope for reform even in the darkest hours of repression.

Pictures from Gaza | 2014

The impressions we have of Gaza from the news evoke depressing piles of rubble, and desperate victms caught in an endless cycle of violence. However, rarely do we see another side: the strenth and resilience of its residents going about their daily lives, the simplicity and beauty of its landscapes, its rich cultural heritage, or the humor and playfulness of the younger generation. This documentary follows a photographer's journey through parts of Gaza that we rarely see.

The Night of Power | 2009

Laylat al-Qadr, or the Night of Power, marks the night that the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammad by the angel Gabriel. Muslims spend Laylat al-Qadr in worship and devotion, waiting for the final prayer, where emotions run high and tears fall. In this un-narrated documentary, we see striking images of millions of Egyptians gathering throughout the city of Alexandria to receive auspicious blessings on the Night of Power.