On the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 a first time feature film director released a documentary about a football team at a mostly predominantly Muslim High School in Dearborn, Michigan. The film is called Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football and screens this week as part of our Double Exposure series on Wednesday evening. Directed and executive produced by Rashid Ghazi, a marketing guru and sports television producer, Ghazi and his wife funded the production, marketing and distribution of this film.
On the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 a first time feature film director released a documentary about a football team at a mostly predominantly Muslim High School in Dearborn, Michigan. The film is called Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football and screens this week as part of our Double Exposure series on Wednesday evening. Directed and executive produced by Rashid Ghazi, a marketing guru and sports television producer, Ghazi and his wife funded the production, marketing and distribution of this film.
The intention was to highlight that not all Muslim’s are terrorists by giving us a glimpse into the values, aspirations and lives of Arab-American Muslims. They’ve done an impressive job, Fordson has won numerous awards including the Special Grand Jury Award at the Slamdance Film Festival and Best US Documentary Film at Traverse City Film Festival. Fellow documentary maker Michael Moore stated, “I want everyone in the country to watch this film.”
The documentary was shot over a week during Ramadan as the Fordson football team prepared for a game against their affluent cross-town college rivals. We meet members of the team, and their families and coaches, who explain what it means to be an Arab American, and the challenges they face post 9/11. And let’s not forget this is also a sports film, with its fair share of rousing music, game play and heroic portraits.
It’s an insightful, engaging and uplifting film. I’m still left wondering how Dearborn became the Arab capital of America? - but that’s probably another film.
This week Rialto Channel is also screening another special film, the first ever Samoan feature film, and New Zealand’s first ever entry into the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, The Orator or O Le Tulafale (Saturday 28th July, 8.30pm).
Directed and written by New Zealand based Tusi Tamasese, with cinematography by Leon Narbey (Whale Rider), The Orator is a deeply moving, beautifully shot and thoughtful film that had me in tears and lingered in my mind for days. I recommend you pop back on Thursday to read my interview with Tusi Tamasese, and on Saturday slip into island mode and let this remarkable debut feature wash over you.
Also, this is the final week of the Rialto Channel’s own Jean Luc Godard Film Festival, that’s been taking place in our Director’s Showcase on Sunday evenings, 8.30pm. This Sunday we’re screening Pierrot Le Fou (Crazy Pete) about an unhappily married man who runs away with a past lover only to discover she’s a murderer and gun runner. This playful and challenging film is filled with colour, music, violence and humour.
It also re-invigorated Godard. “Two or three years ago I felt that everything had been done, that there was nothing left to do today. . . . Ivan the Terrible had been made, and Our Daily Bread. Make films about the people, they said; but The Crowd had already been made, so why remake it? I was, in a word, pessimistic. After Pierrot, I no longer feel this. Yes. One must film everything - talk about everything. Everything remains to be done” - Jean-Luc Godard in an interview about Pierrot le fou (1965).
Enjoy.