Seattle has a long, solid tradition of indie filmmaking – sometimes it’s good, sometimes… well… you know what I mean. But if more documentaries were like this one, I suspect there would be no question in Olympia about the value of keeping filmmaking opportunities alive and well here.
In short, BARZAN is about how easily injustice is visited upon immigrants, our own preconceived notions, and the grey area that lies between truth and fiction. More specifically, it’s about whether or not a simple case of mistaken identity incorrectly identifies a man as someone with terrorist connections. From the film’s website:
In 2005, Sam “Barzan” Malkandi, an Iraqi immigrant and beloved family man, was working toward a piece of the American Dream in a Seattle suburb. But a footnote in the 9/11 Commission Report, connecting him to a high-level Al-Qaeda operative, changed everything. Five years of detention and multiple appeals later, Malkandi was deported back to Iraq–leaving behind his wife and two children.
We recorded the next episode of the SGS Podcast (coming Monday!) with Cassidy Dimon, Morgan Dusatko and Bradley Hutchinson – three of the filmmakers responsible for the documentary, that is currently in post-production, right here in Seattle. They’re in the process of raising funds, via Kickstarter, to reach their (surprisingly reasonable) goal and get BARZAN out on the festival circuit.
Check out the trailer:
If everyone who reads SGS today gave a dollar (seriously, a buck!) they’d be well on their way to having this story ready to tell. Of course, if you can afford to give $5, $10 or more, then so much the better. The perks on Kickstarter are pretty damned good, too. $25 for an autographed poster and a digital download of the movie? Yes, please.
