A docu-series by Yasmine Idriss
ORIGINS
Episode One: Spirit of the Nomad
A cinematic search for what modern life has forgotten.
Official Trailer · YouTube embed
[Placeholder: 60–90 sec trailer, 16:9. Teaser runs here until the trailer is delivered.]
Digital premiere on YouTube · [Early 2027, date TBC]
The Project
We are living in an age of rootlessness.
More connected than ever, and somehow more disconnected than we know how to name. From nature. From place. From lineage, ritual and one another.
ORIGINS is a travel docu-series that follows filmmaker Yasmine Idriss into remote communities, ancient traditions and disappearing ways of life. Part travelogue, part philosophical inquiry, it asks what the wisdom of our ancestors can teach us about the future.
Not to go backward. To remember.
What have we forgotten?
What does it mean to belong?
If this way of life disappeared tomorrow, what would humanity lose?
Episode One · Morocco · [22] min
Spirit of the Nomad
What happens when a modern person enters a world still shaped by the earth?
Yas begins in the Sahara, our planet's most iconic desert, with nomadic families holding on to a way of life that is quickly disappearing. From the dunes she travels into the Saghro mountains and on to the craftspeople of the Rif, where Mama Aïcha, a master potter in her eighties, is closing a centuries-old lineage. The desert strips away the romance fast. What's left is harder and more honest: what we lose when a way of life disappears, and whether we're ready to remember it.
What we explore
Disappearing nomadism
The fading traditions of nomadic tribes. A family of desert dwellers, and two elderly nomads holding on to a bygone world.
Village life
The community bonds that still shape daily life. Time with a women's cooperative keeping ancient craft alive.
Echoes of change
Families weighing whether to leave this way of life so their children can go to school. And Mama Aïcha on acceptance and the circular nature of change.
“I came to Morocco looking for ancient wisdom. I left with a question I could not put down.”
![[Confirm: Yasmine Idriss] seated in sunlight against green zellige tile](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/6ace7e940644267ae437c99d/cae58556-fb2b-46e0-970b-a150758f3a72/origins-yas-portrait.jpg)
Meet Yas
A bridge across cultures.
Born in New York, raised in Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, and rooted in Lebanese and Syrian heritage, Yasmine Idriss grew up between cultures, languages and ways of seeing the world. French-educated and fluent in four languages, she learned early that there's no single way to live, believe or belong.
She doesn't arrive as an expert. She arrives curious, a little unprepared, and willing to be changed by what she finds. Her gift is connection: she builds trust quickly, across language, culture and place. So you don't just watch these ways of life from a distance. You feel the discomfort, humility and beauty of being close to them.
Before ORIGINS, Yas cycled Iceland's Ring Road, a ride covered by CNN Arabia, Arab News, The Outdoor Journal and LIST Magazine.
ORIGINS is one part of a larger body of work. Yas is also developing a conversation podcast on fulfillment, courage and aligned living, and Weaving for Peace, a long-term project that brings together people from regions taught to see each other as enemies. [Yas to confirm these can go public.]
She goes first, so we can follow.
As seen in
CNN Arabia
Arab News
The Outdoor Journal
LIST Magazine
The Mo Show
The Crew
A small team. Deep access.
We work lean on purpose. It lets us move with intimacy, respect and trust, and leave room for the real story to show up.
Yasmine Idriss
Creator, Director + Host
A filmmaker and explorer raised between New York, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. Yas holds the vision, the central questions and the story of every episode. She's the bridge the audience follows into each world. Before ORIGINS, she cycled Iceland's Ring Road. [Add past films or credits.]
Kelly Kessen
Producer, Story + Logistics
Kelly works beside Yas in the field and in the edit. She tracks the story as it unfolds, holds the team and the timeline, and catches the moments that matter. She also leads podcast and press outreach for ORIGINS. [Add one line on Kelly's background.]
Danika Oriol-Morway
[Producer], Fundraising + Operations
Danika built the home for ORIGINS: the company, the systems, the budget and the funding path for the rest of the season. She's the first call for executive producers, funders and partners. [Add one line on Danika's background.]
Matt Cannon
Editor
Matt shaped the first throughline of the Morocco footage. He found the strongest moments and built the edit that became Spirit of the Nomad. [Add one line on Matt's background or credits.]
Dayo Clinckspoor
Videographer
Dayo's camera brings the visual world of ORIGINS to the screen: faces, hands, fire and land in real light. [Confirm Dayo shot the Morocco footage; add background or awards.]
Krista Ripma
Executive Producer
Krista Ripma works at the intersection of entertainment, media, and marketing. She is the founder of Authentic Audience and The Authentic Business Club, and an investor in 2X. With roots in Los Angeles television production, she brings a background in storytelling, audience development, and business growth to her role leading marketing, audience, and launch strategy for ORIGINS.
Where we go next
Spirit of the Nomad is the first chapter.
Each episode follows Yas to a new place, a living tradition and one central question.
Chapter II
Birth
Indigenous midwifery and the oldest way we arrive. [Location and timing TBC]
Chapter III
Mongolia
From motorbike to horseback across the steppe: the origin of movement.
Season closer
Death
Ancient cremation grounds and what they teach us about letting go.
The Digital Premiere
Be there for the premiere.
Spirit of the Nomad premieres online in [early 2027]. Join the list to get the date first, a private link to the live premiere, and stories from the desert before anyone else.
Just the premiere and the stories behind it. Unsubscribe anytime.
Get Involved
Help bring ORIGINS into the world.
ORIGINS is independent by design. We're building it with people who care about what it stands for, so the stories stay true to the people who share them. We're looking for:
- Executive producers
- Funders and grantmakers
- Episode and premiere sponsors
- In-kind partners for travel, gear and lodging
- Press, podcasts and screening hosts