A Fire Within Documentary

A FIRE WITHIN is an urgently vital human rights documentary which
tells the powerful true story of three women who survive torture and flee their home country of Ethiopia to start new lives in America.

After moving to Atlanta for a fresh start, one of the women is horrified to make a shocking discovery: her former torturer is not only living in America, but he is working alongside her at her new job in Atlanta.

A FIRE WITHIN is an inspiring, timely story about three resilient survivors who take a stand to make their voices heard and their courageous attempt to bring their torturer to justice in America.

  • Christopher Chambers
    Director
    Aram, Aram
  • Liya Kebede
    Producer
    Desert Flower
  • Jeff Hoffman
    Producer
    Lansky
  • Ermias Woldeamlak
    Producer
    The Father, Black Gold, Independent Lens
  • Russell Gray
    Producer
    Peanutbutter Falcon
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 28 minutes
  • Production Budget:
    200,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada, Ethiopia, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Atlanta Film Festival (Premiere) - Audience Award

    Premiere
    Audience Award
Distribution Information
  • N//A - Seeking Distribution
Director Biography - Christopher Chambers

“A FIRE WITHIN” is Chambers’ first documentary.
Award-winning Writer-Director Christopher Chambers is known for his breakout feature debut, "ARAM, ARAM." A coming-of-age film set in the Armenian Community of Los Angeles, "ARAM, ARAM" premiered to a sold-out audience at the Los Angeles Film Festival, garnering praise from critics: Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter called "ARAM, ARAM" a film that "deserves to be seen" and LA Weekly called it "a moving success."

After a limited theatrical release spanning the U.S., Canada and Australia, "ARAM, ARAM" was purchased by Netflix. “Aram, Aram” streamed in 27 different languages around the world and recently ended its run on Netflix. Next, “Aram, Aram” will be coming to Amazon streaming.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My goal with this story was to amplify the voices of the three inspiring women at the heart of this documentary - to share their story, to honor their bravery. This film is an inspirational modern morality tale about three resilient, courageous women who took a stand to speak their truths...and made history by bringing their own abuser to justice.

The story of these three incredible women is shockingly, powerfully relevant to this moment in history.

I made this film to EMPOWER - the over 1 million immigrants living in North America today who are survivors of torture; this story shines light on the fact that there is a legal precedent which empowers survivors of torture to bring their torturers to justice here in the U.S.

Lastly, I made this film to INSPIRE -- for the next generation of human rights warriors. To inspire teenagers, college students and young adults across the world with this story of three courageous women fighting for and succeeding in creating a better, more just world...to show tomorrow's leaders that Justice can indeed be achieved using "the system". It has been my greatest honor to work side-by-side with the three women whose story we share in this documentary.