Karin Muller - Egypt - Beyond the Pyramids (film)

If you read the tourist brochures, Egypt is all about pharaohs and pyramids – the evening news commonly depicts conflicts and extremism.  Nothing can be further from the truth.

Egypt Beyond the Pyramids takes us on a dramatic fast-paced, and unforgettable journey through a side of Egypt that few Westerners will ever see.

For three months, adventure filmmaker and author Karin Muller traveled alone throughout Egypt -living with Cairo’s garbage collectors, Nile fishermen and Bedouin nomads.  She ate sheep brains with camel herders, fasted through the blistering heat of Islam’s Holy Month, and spent long evenings in smoke filled coffee houses to gain the trust of the Mullahs, souk market- sellers, and young revolutionaries in Tahir Square.  They allowed her to film the boxing club inside a conservative Cairo mosque, ritual stick fighting in a wild and remote Muslim festival, and an entire village living among the tombs of Cairo’s largest cemetery.

Karin Muller, a Swiss-born author, filmmaker, photographer, and adventurer and frequent CEA speaker, has spent the past twenty years traveling alone to remote cultures and conflict zones to bring home stories about people and places. She has published three books (Hitchhiking Vietnam, Along the Inca road, and Japanland), produced numerous international television documentary series, and is a frequent lecturer for the National Geographic Society and universities throughout the United States as well as the College Endowment Association.

Muller has founded an educational organization named Take 2: The Student's Point of View whose mission is to help students develop global citizenship and leadership skills so that they can better understand the challenges faced by people in conflict regions around the world. Muller spends two to three months filming in various locales, then provides the raw footage to North American schools free of charge. Students are encouraged to use the footage and supporting documentation to create documentaries or short films reflecting the issues that they learn about while going through the footage. The first projects have involved footage from Darfur; 37 hours of footage were provided to schools, and a number of documentary programs have been completed. Approximately 40 schools have joined the project thus far. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Muller

Karin Muller never expected the novel coronavirus pandemic to create such a loving community in Ventura, California. The PBS and National Geographic filmmaker is also an EMT, so in March, she felt compelled to check on the most vulnerable population in her town — people without homes. Little did she know she’d spark an incredible wave of kindness.

Karin began hiking into two local river bottoms, where more than 300 homeless people live. While wary of strangers, they started to trust her more and more each time she came back with food. With no access to water or hand sanitizer, Karen knew these people were very likely to contract COVID-19. “My goal was to catch the virus before it had a chance to spread, But over the next three months, something extraordinary happened.” It didn’t take long before Karin was overwhelmed. She needed help to continue feeding and caring for her new friends. So, she decided to post on Nextdoor, asking her neighbors if they’d donate food. And the response was incredible!  “Within three days I had more food than I could carry,” she said. “Everything from fresh baked muffins to hard boiled eggs.”

But the outpouring of support didn’t end there. Karin’s neighbor, Teri Jenkins, used an app to organize meal-making in the community. Then, neighbors collected necessities to distribute among the homeless camps, including socks, hygiene items, and medical supplies. And the generosity kept coming! A lawyer visited the camps to help residents figure out how to get their fiscal stimulus checks, and an engineer named Rick built hand washing stations! But the best gift by far was the beautiful community they all created together. Karin isn’t the only person hiking into the camps anymore; she’s often joined by nurses, doctors, and strangers who want to connect with the people they’re helping.