The Trials of Spring

Screenings

2015 Season

New York

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.

Filmmaker(s):

Gini Reticker

Country of Production:

Egypt/US

Year:

2015

76m

Language(s):

In Arabic with English subtitles

Genre:

Documentary

Filmmaker Bio(s):

Gini Reticker

Director

Gini Reticker is an Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker. Much of her work has focused on women engaged in struggles for social justice and human rights.

Distributor:

Fork Films

Film Website:

The Trials of Spring website

Unchecked abuses of power, breaches of justice, and biased government court proceedings have continued to plague Egypt since Mubarak’s fall in 2011. Hend Nafea’s personal journey is a powerful example of the types of abuses extensively documented by Human Rights Watch.

To learn more on this topic visit HRW.org