The Trials of Spring: A Multimedia Initiative

Women were on the front lines of the uprisings that swept the Arab world in 2011. Young and old, rich and poor, veiled and unveiled, they took to the streets beside men, their signs held high or hands cupped around their mouths to amplify their voices. But as the jubilation of revolution gave way to the convoluted process of governing—and often the chaos and blood of war—women disappeared from the mainstream story. Behind the scenes, however, they continue to play vital roles—keeping schools open and mouths fed, tending to the sick and injured, keeping the world informed through blogs and social media, lobbying for human rights, running for office, building alliances, even drafting constitutions for fledgling democracies. The Trials of Spring is a multimedia initiative that aims to elevate the stories of these women. The project includes six short films profiling women from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria, a feature documentary focused on Egypt (screening as a World premiere in this year’s festival), and an extensive outreach campaign that will bring these stories to stakeholders, educators, and grassroots organizations around the world. This program will feature a selection of the short films and a discussion with the multi-disciplinary team. How did they devise and develop an approach and strategy to create such an initiative, and how did they use this framework to build strategic collaborations with partners such as The New York Times?

Participants include:
Gini Reticker, Executive Producer
Beth Levison, Producer
Lauren Feeney, Digital Director
Samia Khan, Director of Partnership Development, MediaStorm
Ann Derry, Editorial Director of Video Partnerships, The New York Times