Hereafter, Together

Yasmin (Muslim, Lebanese) has moved to Canada, leaving behind a family still caught in war. She carries the weight of absence—and the effort of starting over in a place that feels both safe and unfamiliar. Joseph (Jewish, Canadian) is mourning the cousin he lost in Israel and caring for his grieving aunt. He struggles to give voice to his own pain, often retreating inward at moments when Yasmin needs reassurance that she hasn’t arrived alone.

The film follows their attempt to live with these wounds, both separately and together. Indoors, prayer, silence, and confession create moments of intimacy that also expose fracture. Outdoors, the stark winter landscape becomes a mirror—at once isolating and quietly open to the possibility of beginning again.

At its core, Hereafter, Together explores the impossibilities that intimacy allows: how grief and history cast their shadow on even the smallest gestures of love, and how two people, marked by exile and loss, attempt to connect across those divides. With honesty and restraint, the film looks at the ways we process—or cannot process—our pain, and the difficulty, yet necessity, of trying to share it.

WHY THIS FILM — WHY ME — WHY NOW

As pain between our communities hardens, much of today’s art is pushed toward explanation, argument, or spectacle. This film chooses another path. It resists sensationalism and refuses to reduce lived experience to a single frame. Instead, it centres the private, fragile space where grief, intimacy, and cultural memory quietly intersect.

In 2023, I traveled to Lebanon to share two of my short films. I stayed for a month—welcomed with warmth and generosity—exchanging cultures and speaking openly about difficult histories. By coincidence, I flew home on October 7th. In the months that followed, I lost loved ones in Israel while close friends in Lebanon mourned their own losses. We stayed in contact throughout—holding space for one another, speaking with care even when words were difficult.

Hereafter, Together grows out of that lived tension: the knowledge that grief does not belong to one place, and that intimacy often asks us to carry histories we did not choose. I feel fortunate to be joined by Jewish and Lebanese collaborators who believe deeply in telling this story with restraint, humility, and honesty. Together, we hope to create a film that allows audiences to sit with complexity—without being told what to think.

MAKING THIS TOGETHER

This film is being made by Jewish and Middle Eastern (Arab/Muslim) artists working together, in good faith, at a moment when many of us are retreating into cultural silos for safety.

The collaboration behind Hereafter, Together is not a slogan or a gesture—it is the work itself. From development through production, we are intentionally building a shared creative space grounded in listening, care, and mutual respect. That process matters as much as the finished film, because it is how trust is built in real time.

In a period marked by division and fear, this project represents something active and tangible: our communities coming together to create, to sit with complexity, and to share understanding without erasing difference. The integrity of that collaboration is what we hope audiences will feel on screen.

VISUAL STYLE

The film’s aesthetic will blur naturalistic performance with surreal imagery and documentary textures. Cross-fading between prayers, rituals, landscapes, and archival fragments, the film will reflect how personal grief and communal histories live inside the present moment.

The camera will move between intimacy and distance: composed, still frames for estrangement, fluid movements for moments of connection, and layered sound design that weaves liturgical fragments and ambient textures into an evocative sonic landscape. The visual language is inspired by Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour, Chantal Akerman’s domestic minimalism, and Asghar Farhadi’s moral subtlety.

WHERE WE ARE & WHAT YOUR SUPPORT MAKES POSSIBLE

We are preparing to shoot Hereafter, Together in March 2026, with post-production scheduled for completion by May 2026. The film will begin its festival run in Summer 2026, followed by community and interfaith screenings in Canada, across the diaspora, and in the Middle East.

This campaign allows us to:

• Pay our cast and crew fairly
• Create a safe, intentional set environment
• Give the film the time and care it requires in post-production
• Plan meaningful community screenings paired with moderated discussions

We will share campaign updates at key milestones (pre-production, production, wrap, picture lock), and supporters will receive clear instructions for when and how their rewards are delivered.

If we exceed our goal, additional funds will support sound design, original score, colour grading, festival submissions, and expanded community screenings—ensuring the film can live beyond festivals, in the spaces where it matters most.

How You Can Help

By pledging, sharing, or following this campaign, you’re not only supporting a short film—you’re helping create a shared space where art can hold what language and debate often cannot.

Every contribution helps bring Hereafter, Together into the rooms where listening is possible, complexity is respected, and connection is allowed to unfold with dignity and care.

BUDGET BREAKDOWN

Your support goes directly to the people making this film possible. Our budget covers the essentials: paying cast and crew fairly, renting equipment, keeping the set safe, and ensuring everyone is cared for during production.

If we exceed our goal, additional funds will support sound design, score, colour grading, festival submissions, and community screenings—so the film can live beyond festivals, in the spaces where it matters most.

Visual References

Reference images used on this page are drawn from the following films and are included for visual inspiration only:

Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013), In the Mood for Love (2000), A Serious Man (2009), Weekend (2011), Cold War (2018), The Double Life of Véronique (1991), The Syrian Bride (2004), Happy Together (1997), Where do We go From Here (2011).