Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2004


Being Osama

Buy Being Osama now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'Being Osama' is a 2004 documentary about how the lives of men named "Osama" changed in the aftermath of 9/11.

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.[http://www.veritasfilms.ae Veritas Films] Co-director Schwab is an associate professor of film at Montreal's Concordia University.

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'.

* Ossama al-Sarraf (better known as Sultan), a Christian Palestinian Canadian DJ who wears dreadlocks. He is one half of the DJ duo, Sultan + Ned 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 will still a young child. His father has recently returned to Iraq, and portrayed as a university graduate and a basketball player, involved in organising a Muslim basketball league in a Montreal suburb.

They all recount their experiences in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Reception and distribution



The film has been recognised as a contribution to the intellectual and artistic debate about the Arab diaspora.[http://www.citypages.com/2005-11-09/movies/the-personal-is-geopolitical/ The Personal is Geopolitical: Horror and grace at the Third Annual Arab Film Festival] at CityPages.com; by Caroline Palmer; published November 9, 2005; retrieved September 1, 2013

Kaabour presented it in a two-hour special on the Zaven Kouyoumdjian pan Arab talk show "Seereh w Enfatahit" (Arabic ) on the Lebanese Future Television channel. " 'Being Osama', directed by Dubai-based filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour" (2007) 'The Dubai Journal'.

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.[http://ctr.concordia.ca/2004-05/apr_07/glance/ Review "At a Glance" (April 21, 2005) 'Concordia's Thursday Report' Vol.29 No.14]

See also



* List of cultural references to the September 11 attacks

* 'Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?'

References




Buy Being Osama now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 2004



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1107938499.