Masjid al Haram, or the Great Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, is the holiest site in the Muslim world. “In Arabic, Harām means sinful or forbidden, but with a slight inflection in pronunciation it also means sanctuary and sacred,” says filmmaker and creative director Kazim Rashid. “It is this contradictory symbiosis of good and evil, devotion for the divine and the exploitation of hope that my film attempts to explore.”

Exit to Al-Haram started life as a personal project that was meant to capture Rashid’s 89-year-old grandmother’s final trip to Mecca—her dying wish. Her passport failed to arrive in time so his family had to travel without her. “My grandmother’s preparations in the weeks before the trip was like a deep spiritual cleanse,” says Rashid. “Then in a matter of moments it was all for nothing. Years of devotion were seemingly smashed to pieces.”