Exploring the past to change the future

In 2008, Jason Hamacher was the subject of a short film submitted to compete in the International Documentary Challenge. The film won Best of Music Genre and is now available online.


Old Soul from shaz malik on Vimeo.

Lost Origin Productions is combing the archives and slowly editing short film clips. Below is a link to the first:

A Rare View into Centuries Old Aleppo House

Hamacher will be telling stories of secret police, lost tombs, and ancient temples at the screening of Old Soul on Aug 10th at the Black Cat Backstage. Party starts @ 9 pm.

Hamacher has been accepted into the Lowepro In Action program.  Lowepro provides products and Hamacher provides photos of those products being used.


Back in March, Hamacher was approached by independent film producer, Shaz Malik, to be a possible subject for her film in the International Documentary Challenge. The teams have 5 days to conceive, film, edit, and score a short film. Each team was assigned a topic and theme the morning of the competition. Malik team , Reel Hard Workin Dogs, was assigned Music and the theme for this year was Change. She focused on Hamacher's work with the Syrian Orthodox Church chanting. THe film was titled "Old Soul" and won "Best Use Of Music Genre" out of 122 teams from 16 countries. Click here to see all the winners.


Hamacher's work will be featured on several radio and television programs soon. Updates will follow.

I am sitting in the Vienna airport waiting for a connecting flight to Washington. I've been working in Syria for a private party for the last 6 weeks in addition to gathering images to round out my book on Aleppo. This trip was wild. I found an underground room filled with tombs, dealt with snakes, spiders, cobwebs, secret police, military, graveyards, ruins, the works! I have been swamped for the last 4 months and will properly update my site once jet lag has had her way with me.

This is the beginning of our new online venture. We will be adding information all the time so please visit regularly. We will be releasing limited edition CD's, postcards, and shirts so be sure to enter our mailing list to stay in the know.

There is so much happening all at once, we'll start with the most pertinent. The Washington DC Jewish Community Center has invited Jason Hamacher to exhibit his photographs of Aleppo, Syria's Great Synagogue. Hamacher has chosen 14 selections to be displayed at the Barbara and Harold Berman Washington DC Jewish Community Center Cafe. The show is titled, "Inside the Great Synagogue of Aleppo: Photographic selections from Jason Hamacher’s forthcoming book, Aleppo: The Essence of Syria." It will run from December 26th, 2007 ~ February 18th 2008. Prints will be available for purchase through the gallery. A formal reception will be held on January 13th between 3:00 and 5:00 pm, all are invited. Hamacher will speak about the exhibition and is currently working on getting a guest speaker. For more information and directions visit the JCC's website or contact Lost Origin Productions directly.

Over the past two weeks, Lost Origin Productions has delivered two successful public speaking engagements. The first presentation was held in NYC at the orientation of United States-Syria Future Leaders Program, which is run by the American Mideast Leadership Network.

The program is described by the AMLN as: "To help address misconception and to foster a more realistic observation of the true American spirit, the AMLN has initiated the United States-Syria Future Leaders Program, the first ever exchange program of its kind. Through the initial exchange of this two-week program, to take place in Syria this summer, a diverse group of Syrian and American university students will have the opportunity for the first time to interact with each other and act as ambassadors for their countries. The student ambassadors will participate in discussions, lectures, tourist excursions, and cultural outings in order to comprehend and share their respective cultural, religious heritages with on another. We anticipate that both groups of students will break through ideological and cultural walls that separate them as they gain a better appreciation for the local culture."

On recommendation of the Syrian Embassy in Washington DC, Hamacher explained current Lost Origin projects taking place in Syria and offered insight and experiences on travel.

The second presentation was held at St. Aphraim's Syriac Orthodox Church in Alexandria, VA. Hamacher received a standing ovation after delivering an hour-long Keynote multimedia presentation to crowd of 60 people. The presentation addressed the series of events that led him to work with the Syrian Orthodox Church as well as his project accomplishments and goals.