Being Osama
Being Osama is a 2004 documentary about how the lives of men named "Osama" changed in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
| Being Osama | |
|---|---|
| File:Five Men Named Osama.JPG Five Montreal men who happened to have the name "Osama" | |
| Directed by | Mahmoud Kaabour Tim Schwab |
| Written by | Mahmoud Kaabour |
| Produced by | Diversus [ca] |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Osama (Sam) Shalabi |
Release date |
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| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
It was produced by Tim Schwab and Mahmoud Kaabour. Director Kaabour is the founder and managing director of Veritas Films, now based in the United Arab Emirates.[1][2] Co-director Schwab is an associate professor of film at Montreal's Concordia University.[3]
Synopsis
The documentary details the lives of six Montreal Arab men, all with the first name "Osama":
- Osama (Sam) Shalabi, of Egyptian origin, a music composer who grew up in Atlantic Canada. He is a leading member of the Montreal-based instrumental band, Shalabi Effect. He composed the soundtrack for Being Osama.[4]
- Ossama al-Sarraf (better known as Sultan), a Palestinian Christian (specifically Gazan) Canadian DJ who wears dreadlocks. He is one half of the DJ duo, Sultan & Shepard.
- Ossama el-Naggar, an Egyptian Canadian musical expert and importer of opera and classical music CDs living in Canada for over twenty years
- Osama el-Demerdash, an Egyptian, who is very politically active regarding issues surrounding immigrant rights and deportation of refugees
- Oussama al-Jundi, a Lebanese Canadian who runs a Muslim school in Montreal
- Osama Dorias, an Iraqi Canadian and devout Muslim whose family fled Saddam Hussein's regime while he was still a young child. His father has recently returned to Iraq and portrayed as a university graduate and a basketball player, involved in organizing a Muslim basketball league in a Montreal suburb.
They all recount their experiences in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.[5]
Reception and distribution
The film has been recognised as a contribution to the intellectual and artistic debate about the Arab diaspora.[6]
Kaabour presented it in a two-hour special on the Zaven Kouyoumdjian pan Arab talk show "Seereh w Enfatahit" (Arabic سيرة وانفتحت) on the Lebanese Future Television channel.[7][8]
Awards
Being Osama has won international awards including:
- Best Documentary at the University Film and Video Conference
- Best Documentary award at the Big Muddy Film Festival at Southern Illinois University
- An Aurora Award (for Best Documentary) at the Canadian National Youth Film Festival
- Certificate of Merit for fighting racism from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.[9]
See also
References
- ^ Mahmoud Kaabour at IMDb
- ^ Veritas Films
- ^ "Tim Schwab". Archived from the original on 2010-07-28. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Sam Shalabi at IMDb
- ^ Doyle, John (28 February 2005). "Documentary examines the perils of being Osama". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ^ The Personal is Geopolitical: Horror and grace at the Third Annual Arab Film Festival Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine at CityPages.com; by Caroline Palmer; published November 9, 2005; retrieved September 1, 2013
- ^ Being Osama at IMDb
- ^ "Being Osama". Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) " 'Being Osama', directed by Dubai-based filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour" (2007) The Dubai Journal. - ^ Review – "At a Glance" (April 21, 2005) Concordia's Thursday Report Vol.29 No.14