After Spring

After Spring is a feature documentary that focuses on the Syrian refugee crisis. With the Syrian conflict entering its sixth year, millions of people continue to be displaced. This is the story of what happens next. By following two refugee families in transition and aid workers fighting to keep the camp running, viewers will experience what it is like to live in Zaatari, the largest camp for Syrian refugees. With no end in sight for the conflict or this refugee crisis, everyone must decide if they can rebuild their lives in a place that was never meant to be permanent.

      

“Directors Steph and Ellen found a way to tell the story of the camp, to provide some context for the families’ stories in a beautiful, real, and unobtrusive way that is particularly moving and urgent.” — Jon Stewart, former host of “The Daily Show” & Executive Producer of “After Spring”

     

 Steph Ching is a Brooklyn-based director, producer and editor. She directed and produced After Spring, a feature documentary about the Syrian refugee crisis. The film was Executive Produced by Jon Stewart and supported in part by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. After Spring had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, was broadcast on STARZ and is the recipient of a Frontline Award for Documentary Journalism. She was the Associate Producer and Additional Editor of the Emmy Nominated documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon and also worked on The Brink, Cameraperson,The Fourth Estate, and Jagged, the HBO Music Box documentary about Alanis Morissette. Steph participated in the 2019 Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Labs and is a 2020 Karen Schmeer Fellowship Diversity Program Mentee. She was an honoree on DOC NYC inaugural "40 Under 40" list as a director. Most recently she was an editor on the HBO Max documentary series Take Out with Lisa Ling. She is currently directing/producing a feature documentary about housing justice and tenants’ rights. She is the proud daughter of Hong Kong immigrants.

 

Ellen Martinez is a documentary director, producer, and recent Netflix Nonfiction Directing Fellow. She directed and produced AFTER SPRING, a feature documentary about the Syrian refugee crisis. The film was Executive Produced by Jon Stewart, had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, was broadcast on Starz and is the recipient of the Frontline Award for Documentary Journalism. It is now available in 50+ countries around the world. As a producer she and has worked on projects for Imagine Documentaries, Catalyst Films, Participant Media, HBO and PBS. Ellen attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and was an honoree as a Director on DOC NYCs inaugural “40 Under 40” list. She grew up overseas in Dubai, Venezuela and Syria and is now based in Brooklyn, New York.