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Sara Jo | سارة الجوهري

@hellosarajo

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📍KC | 🇵🇸 | 🎬
𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 • 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 • 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 & 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴

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‘24(ish): 🎬 work dump by @hellosarajo

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a year ago

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6 years ago

The morning of this photo, I woke up exhausted and the cold and gloom had me in such a negative headspace. I left work to grab coffee & some fresh air. I sat on a staircase & toyed around with the new iPhone X we had just launched. A bit of sunshine began to seep through so I began testing out the new portrait camera and settings. I mentally & physically felt awful that morning, yet I still allowed myself to enjoy the new gadget I had just invested in.

Little did I know that one of those photos would be selected for Apple’s global #shotoniPhone campaign months later... and that an image would resonate with so many worldwide.

As I said in my initial post about it, I distinctly remember how excited I was the moment I came across Apple’s image of a girl named Zeynep years ago. At that point, rare was it to ever see a Muslim woman in hijab in any national/international marketing campaigns, let alone as the primary subject. The image was proudly shared and applauded by thousands globally online. To see someone of the same faith, gender, ethnicity, experience... It meant something. It still means something.

Representation matters. It always has mattered, and it always will.

Throughout the past year you all have shared your experiences running into this ad in your respective cities, and what it’s meant to you. I can’t express enough how much your words of encouragement & excitement have meant to me. My nieces - who absolutely lost it when they themselves ran into the image of their aunt, proudly & unapologetically in hijab, displayed across our country and the world. I’m honored that Apple, a company that has always championed diversity & inclusion, chose this to be a part of their iconic #shotoniPhone campaign. It has been a complete out-of-body experience & I’m so grateful to have shared it with you all.

Most of all, I’m grateful I was able to visit one of these myself, and hug the girl who so desperately needed one the morning this photo was taken. If only she knew how joyful that photo would come to be. ♥️ Will post ALL your pics to a story highlight. ILY! by @hellosarajo

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8 years ago

I 💟 LA by @hellosarajo

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a month ago

Core memories with friends > everything. Let’s get another win today, please? 🇪🇬❤️🙏🏼 taken in Dallas, Texas by @hellosarajo

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3 months ago

I had a million things to say, a million deep thoughtful reflections to put here, about the complexities of one’s relationship with their motherland and the diasporic experience but honestly… I just love us so much 🇪🇬

swipe to the very end to see the video I sent to my besties after we finally won hahaha I was SHOOK. InshaAllah tomorrow also goes in our favour! by @hellosarajo

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3 months ago

Coffee, community, and a little World Cup spirit this morning🇩🇿⚽️

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and to all those involved in organizing this event!

#worldcup #coffeecart #kccoffeecart #vivalalgerie #beesocoffee taken in Baba's Pantry by @hellosarajo

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4 months ago

Algeria match day eve rally in Lawrence, KS 🇩🇿💚 taken in Lawrence, Kansas by @hellosarajo

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4 months ago

In honor of game 2 tonight, we’re wishing Team Algeria all the best from KC! 🇩🇿🦊💚 taken in Kansas City, Missouri by @hellosarajo

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4 months ago

Hi, I’m Sara, a Kansas City native and a multimedia producer, filmmaker, and journalist of 15 years.

Throughout the World Cup, I’ll be highlighting the stories of Kansas City’s immigrant communities as they cheer on their home countries on the world’s biggest stage - sometimes right here in our own backyard. This work is completely independent and driven by a love of community, culture, and collective joy. I’ve also been assisting international journalists who couldn’t make it to Kansas City by helping facilitate interviews and capture footage of local celebrations.

My passion for storytelling began with a childhood love of sports films, especially stories of when sport meets identity and social change. I believe there’s immense value in documenting the everyday joys of underrepresented communities in this moment, stories that are often overlooked by traditional media outlets that parachute in and out for a quick headline.

There is nothing more powerful than feeling seen. And over the past week alone, we’ve witnessed countless examples of what that means.

This is already the busiest season of the year for local film freelancers, and I’m off for the first time in over a month. You may have seen snippets of these celebrations on my Stories, but thank you for your patience as I catch up on edits that I’m excited to share soon.

P.S. - I already have a few invitations on the books (thank you! ❤️), but if you or your community are hosting an official World Cup watch party in Kansas City, I’d love to join you in celebrating this incredible moment. DM me! :) by @hellosarajo

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4 months ago

I never got around to annual recap posts. How do you summarize a year that felt like it split you in two? A burnout so deep it turned a month-long trip into a nearly six-month escape from everything familiar.

It feels impossible to post anything on here without being honest about the grief that defined 2025 for me. The kind of grief that shows up quietly in the middle of your busiest days, asking you to keep going while something inside you is frozen still. Burnout doesn’t always come from doing too much. Sometimes it comes from carrying too much, for too long, without ever setting it down.

Khalto (Aunt) Asma is my earliest memory of Kansas City. Her arms stretched wide as we pulled up to her house after moving from New York in ‘96. And even long after we had a place of our own, she made sure I never felt like I had to leave hers before I was ready. She never had daughters of her own, but always spoiled me like one.

A pillar in our KC community, she was always the first to show up - for anything, for anyone. Caring for the sick, taking in kids as her own, driving us to games, planning outings, filling ordinary days with life and infectious laughter. She was the light and levity in every room she entered. She wasn’t a part of our village, she WAS the village. She was resilience in its most human form. The kind etched into the DNA and soul of every one of our Palestinian elders… steady, enduring, and impossibly strong.

I still can’t register that it’s been nearly a year without her. Time insists on moving on, but grief resists. It lives in the smallest moments, in the spaces she once filled so effortlessly. A loss still learning how to exist.

But we keep going, because she showed us how. With love that still lingers, grief that still aches, and hearts learning, slowly, how to move forward without someone we never imagined living without.

‏الله يرحمك يا غالية 🕊️❤️
Please keep her in your duaas/prayers. by @hellosarajo

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5 months ago

🎬 State Farm Summer - Szn 3. by @hellosarajo

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10 months ago