Film Screening: The Trials of Spring
Institute For Middle East Studies
The first screening of the IMES 2016-2017 Film Series will be held on October 10, and will feature award-winning documentary The Trials of Spring, followed by a discussion of the film by Professor Michele Clark and Dr. Shadi Mokhtari.
“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.”
Speakers
-
Michele Clark is an internationally recognized expert on combating trafficking in human beings. She is currently a lecturer at the Elliott School of International Affairs.
-
Shadi Mokhtari specializes in human rights, Middle East Politics and Political Islam. She has an extensive background in human rights and women’s rights issues in the Middle East and Muslim World, and is an assistant professor at American University's School of International Service.