The films below reflect a shift in my practice as a filmmaker from authoring my own films toward facilitating others, often communities I’ve worked alongside for years, to make their own films. Collaboration runs through all of it, to different degrees
Storytelling for All 2025
A community-led research project bringing heritage-focused filmmaking workshops to Bedouin communities in South Sinai. Funded by @ukri_ahrc and in partnership with Selema Gabaly (Fansina Sinai Bedouin Handicrafts, St Catherine’s), Said Khedr and Tanis Newman (@desertdiversdahab , Dahab), UK artists Emily O’Mara and Andrea Morreau, and film director/editor Vitor Hugo Costa (@metafilmes). The films were created by Bedouin women and men from Dahab and women from St Catherine’s during storytelling and animation workshops, highlighting the cultural heritage held within textiles, embroidery, and traditional knowledge as sustainable practices for climate change mitigation. Each film tells a unique story of place, told by the people who live there — celebrating the vital role of matrilineal intergenerational knowledge transfer in keeping these traditions alive.
[Note: filmmaking in this community followed a gender-segregated methodology, which is why the films below are split into two groups. The films in the Women’s Films group below are early cuts without sound effects yet — final versions are still to come.]Women’s Films
Tomato Soup 03:28 (2025)
The humble tomato becomes a life saving staple when dried into a powder and brought back as a soup
The Wedding 00:55 (2025)
There is nothing more important in the Bedouin social calendar than a wedding
The Woman in the Mountain 02:15 (2025)
Om Saad is an iconic figure who lives with her animals in the mountain orchards of St. Catherine’s
The Fisherman 02:31 (2025)
Fish is an essential food for the Bedouin in Dahab. It is often dried in the sun so that it can be stored for later use
Al Ajram 02:58 (2025)
Al Ajram is a plant that grows well in the dry Sinai conditions. But did you know you can use it as a soap to wash your clothes?
The Hungry Camel 00:33 (2025)
Camels are an asset to the Bedouin household, albeit increasingly for tourism more than travel. But what happens when they are hungry?
A Story of Spring 04:48 (2025)
Springtime is the most important time of the year and time to move the sheep and goats to new grazing
Three Days of Our Life: From Girl to Grandmother 02:13 (2025)
The three significant life stages of Bedouin women are represented in their hairstyles and clothing
Dressing for our Time 02:14 (2025)
A timelapse showing the process for making Three Days of Our Life
Testimonials 07:49 (2025)
The filmmakers of St. Catherine explain their filmmaking stories and process
Men’s Films
The Story of the Goat 360 06:58 (2025)
Nighttime chats around the fire in 360
Stories and Songs in 360 05:11 (2025)
More nighttime chats around the fire in 360
Bedouin Bread is Life 05:49 (2025)
Ever wondered how many ways there are to make Bedouin bread. Find out here
Bedouin Coffee 04:54 (2025)
This is the way to make a delicious coffee
Father and Son 13:51 (2025)
A son learns a valuable lesson from his father
Lunchtime 05:00 (2025)
Hungry? It’s lunchtime!
Said’s Song 02:25 (2025)
A happy travelling song for the desert journey
Urban Dreams 2023
This place-based heritage focused filmmaking project was an award-winning follow up project to Love Letters to Al Khalifa. During their two week mid-year school break in 2023, young residents of the Al-Khalifa neighbourhood in historic Cairo got acquainted with urban wildlife, helped by various field visits inside and outside the neighbourhood. They then went on to conceptualise, draft and shoot their short films using their phones, in order to share stories of place that reveal their relationship with Al-Khalifa’s natural and urban heritage. Winner of the International Union of Architects (UIA) 2023 Golden Cubes Award (Audio Visual Category). In partnership with Megawra Built Environment Collective and Metafilmes.Funded by Landscapes of Hope
Fry Day 05:44
A young man honours his father by continuing his tradition of feeding the birds, with surprising results
Tok Tok 05:42
The ubiquitous tok tok gets caught up in a lost dog drama
Pigeon Coop 07:13
An introduction to a whole new world on the rooftops of Al Khalifa
Through Our Eyes 05:27
What if we looked at our cityscapes through the eyes of some of the animal inhabitants?
City Dreams 05:57
Brainstorming the storyline for a film about the urban nature of Al Khalifa
Love Letters to Al-Khalifa 2022
A series of short films telling stories of the place made by young residents of the Al Khalifa neighbourhood in historic Cairo shot during 2020-22. A collaboration with Megawra (Athar Lina Initiative)and Vitor Hugo Costa (Metafilmes). The project used my unique place-based heritage approach to develop the original stories with the young filmmakers. The original workshop was planned to take place on location in Al khalifa in the summer of 2020 but due to Covid-19 the workshop was redesigned and moved online. In the summer of 2022 we delivered an on location workshop. The films were completed in just five days before being screened to the community and wider public. The difference between the trailer made in 2020 and the films shot in June 2022 show the progress achieved.
The Chocolate 04:09
Is it theft if it is just one small sweet?
Self Respect 05:22
If you see someone asking for help in the street, should you stop to help or walk on by?
The House 07:05
What happens to daughters when their beloved father dies?
Malak Finds Her Voice 05:44
Discovering your neighbourhood’s heritage can help you find your identity and get a job
Human Life 07:22
Which path is the right one to take? Examining the pressure young people are put under to conform
Independent Shorts 2011–2023
A selection of different films made for different reasons looking at a range of different themes
Postcolonial Encounters 02:23 (2011)
An experiment with the different ways audio and visual messaging can be combined to tell a story of postcolonial sexualised geographies
Doreen Massey: Reflections from a Paper Age 07:10 (2016)
The late, great Doreen Massey reflecting on her career as an activist and the role of the analogue archive
Consequences 06:59 (2020)
In the heart of North London, a huge new development is being planned but what does this mean for the local communities who live nearby?
Brixton/Brickstone 03:20 (2021)
Spoken word and crafting workshops explore the impact of ‘regeneration’ in Brixton, on the 40th anniversary of the riots
Building an Idea: Project Helper 07:11 (2023)
Two indigenous teachers in South Cotabato take on the challenge of improving literacy in their village
Bedouin Borders 2018
There have been Bedouin tribes in the Sinai peninsula since the Islamic conquest of Egypt in the 7th century. Bedouin Borders combined filmmaking, embroidery, mapping and translations of legal documents to build a community map of the Bedouin in South Sinai
Guest Star 04:34
Members of the Mzeina tribe reenact a traditional story highlighting the importance of hospitality to survival
The Fisherman 03:29
Fishing from the shore, using just a net, is a traditional skill passed down through the generations
Sheeza 08:06
Said Khedr explains the game of Sheeza and the role of Bacaran in protecting wool tents from moths when put away for storage
Catherine Trailer 01:40
A trailer for a fictional retelling of the story of St. Catherine, reimagined as a young Cairene enmeshed in drama in the Sinai
Origin Story 07:19
There are many versions of the origins of the tribes in the Sinai. Here Said Khedr from the Alegat tribe tells the story he learnt as a child
Nuweiba Nights 21:41
Nighttime around the fire is a time for drinking tea, playing music and telling stories of times gone by
Bedouin Tea 05:18
Catherine, now a young woman from Cairo, returns to the Sinai, with a new mission. But she needs help
Acacia 05:00
Members of the Mzeina tribe prepare a fire from the Acacia tree, to make a delicious cup of coffee
Rebranding the Levant: Heritage Tourism in Amman and Damascus 2008-10
A series of short films made in collaboration with local residents exploring how Western understandings of ‘heritage’ have long-shaped efforts to promote historical conservation and forms of cultural tourism in the Middle East and North Africa.Each film covers a different theme of the relationship between cultural identity and heritage tourism and is edited using a different filmic style in order to examine how the way we produce knowledge affects the knowledge that is produced.
Visualising the Past: Rebranding the Present Amman 10:02 (2010)
Where form matches content, interviews with ‘stakeholders’ of Amman’s heritage economy
Mysteries of the Orient 09:04 (2010)
Why is ‘Old’ Damascus so appealing to European tourists and their nostalgic Orientalist imaginations?
Signs of the Time 02:20 (2010)
How does signage influence how we understand the temporality of tourist space in Amman and Damascus?
Bitter Coffee 12:03 (2010)
Craftsmen in Damascus contrast their understanding of the city with that of government and EU officials, and entrepreneurs