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Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EDT; 19:00 Palestine; 17:00 UK.; 18:00 Europe. Duration: 15 Minutes; 2024; Subtitled in English. Screening will be followed by Q&A discussions with film executive producer Jameeleh Shelo.
About the Fillm
Watch KHSARA for a glimpse into the soul-wrenching realities of medical humanitarian work via authentic, on-the-ground footage captured by those who experience it firsthand.
KHSARA is an Emmy-nominated documentary short spotlighting the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the medical workers delivering aid there. Produced by Red Branch Productions in partnership with MedGlobal, it captures the crisis and relief efforts through raw, firsthand footage from MedGlobal's medical teams, bringing the realities of humanitarian medical work into public view through authentic, in-the-moment perspectives from those who lived it. KHSARA is currently being made into a feature-length documentary. The film features volunteer doctors Tammy Abughnaim, Thaer Ahmed, and Yasser Said.
About the Doctors
Dr. Tammy Abughnaim
Tammy Abughnaim is a board certified emergency medicine physician in Illinois. Her work focuses on caring for patients in low-resource settings, ultrasound training for emergency physicians, and integrating social justice into emergency departments.
Dr. John Kahler, MD, FAAP
Red Cross Disaster Services Hero Award Winner, Regional Director MedGlobal - Latin America Dr. Kahler is a general pediatrician who was Chief Medical Officer for a municipal Federally Qualified Health Center in Joliet, Il until his retirement in January 2017.
Dr. Thaer Ahmad
Dr. Thaer Ahmad is a board-certified emergency medicine physician with a medical degree from Rush in 2014 and specialty training completed at St. John Hospital in Detroit in 2017. He currently serves as an attending physician at Advocate Christ Medical Center and holds roles as the Assistant Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program and the Global Health Director for the emergency department at Advocate Christ.
About the Filmmakers
Dean Bushala
Dean Bushala is a multi-award winning Producer, Director and Cinematographer. He has traveled the world filming for Disney+, National Geographic, MTV, PBS, HGTV Discovery and History Channels and more. His work has earned him nominations and wins around the globe including Emmys, Telly's, MoMA, Communicator, and Michael Moore Award.
Dean is known within the industry for creating entertaining and inspiring pieces as well as implementing new technologies and developing the skills of his crew. Dean believes each project is an opportunity for all to achieve their personal best, using his wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise to benefit the next generation of creators, editors and storytellers.
Dean's documentary films and commercial work have taken him to some of the world’s most remote locations, from several hundred miles out onto the frozen arctic sea, to floating down the Amazon on a man-made raft, to 60 feet underwater filming sharks off the coastal reef of Belize. When Dean isn't working in television he works with many international NGOs in some of the world's worst natural disasters with Doctors Without Borders, MedGlobal, WorldVision and Save the Children.
Jameeleh Shelo
Jameeleh Shelo is a Palestinian American writer, producer, and filmmaker from Chicago’s South Side. An Emmy Award-winning writer and Telly Award-winning producer, she is the former Executive Director of the Chicago Palestine Film Festival and a 2025 Safina Filmmaker Fellow. She serves as Executive Producer of KHSARA and producer of FRACTURED, centering stories that bring Palestinian experiences and urgent human rights issues to the screen.
About Red Branch Productions
Filmmaking Process
Red Branch Productions approaches every project with the singular goal of telling the most compelling and authentic story. Whether arming subjects with their own cameras to capture uncensored moments or working with new technologies to reach previously inaccessible places, the focus is always on furthering the story and tapping into the audience's emotions. This approach has resulted in acclaimed projects for industry giants like Disney+, National Geographic, History Channel, Discovery Channel, MTV, and PBS.
Red Branch Productions brings stories to life in a unique, real, and deeply personal way. Whether installing wire cams to offer viewers a unique perspective, designing custom camera housings to explore animal habitats, or equipping subjects with personal cameras to empower them to tell their stories in their own voices, the goal is always authenticity.
For "Khsara," we've equipped doctors with compact cameras, allowing them to document their experiences—their thoughts, connections, and tears—while performing critical life-saving work in conflict zones. This immersive approach gives the film an authentic voice, capturing raw, unfiltered moments that might otherwise remain unseen. "Khsara" shows the world through the eyes of those who dare to make a difference.