In addition to writing about Middle Eastern culture, Fernea was also a film producer. She earned two National Endowment for the Humanities grants and her list of produced films contain: “Reformers and Revolutionaries: Middle Eastern Women”, “The Struggle for Peace: Israelis and Palestinians”, “The Road to Peace: Israelis and Palestinians”, and “Living with the Past”, The documentary “Living with the Past” deals with the restoration of Al-Darb Al-Ahmar in Egypt. She showed a personal and genuine concern for these people who were being displaced from their homes so historical monuments could be preserved. She argued that the spirit of a place should be captured through its people not through monuments. Instead of showing Egypt as a land of pharaohs and giant pyramids, she wanted to show Americans what Egypt is really like and how they deal with their historical surroundings. She wanted to bring Middle Eastern culture closer to home for Americans, which is something she tried to do after living in Iraq for two years. To show even fellow Egyptians the richness of this culture, she produced copies of her documentary in Arabic and gave copies away to Egyptian television to get the story told. As with before, Fernea had a personal drive to explain the different cultures of West and Middle Eastern life.