Cairo in One Breath 

Produced by On Look Films, Past Preservers provided translator Emad Hamdy and production services in Cairo.

“Cairo in One Breath” examines the conflict between tradition and modernity as an ancient oral tradition gets replaced by a wireless signal. The story develops through the interconnected lives of five characters as the 1,400 year-old tradition of the adhan, Muslim call to prayer, is transformed with the Adhan Unification Project wherein thousands of voices are replaced by one.

As one muezzin begins the call, another joins seconds later from a neighboring mosque, and then another, until the echoing of thousands of diverse voices envelops the 83 square-mile city of Cairo, hushing and transforming the soundscape five times each day.