USA mot AL-ARIAN (USA vs. AL-ARIAN)

Norway/2007/English & Arabic dialogue with English subtitles/Colour/35mm/99 mins

This is an intimate documentary portrait of an Arab-American family facing terrorism charges in the US, in a society where Muslims face increasing discrimination. For years, Nahla Al-Arian and her children have been fighting to prove the innocence of husband and father Sami, a Palestinian refugee, university professor and civil rights activist, who has lived in the USA for more than 30 years. In 2003, he was accused of giving material support to a terrorist organization and held in solitary confinement for over three years. His six-month trial ended without a single guilty verdict and Dr. Al-Arian claims he has been targeted to silence his political views. Because the jury was hung on some counts, he remained in jail. After a plea bargain in 2006, he was sentenced to 57 months in prison and subsequent deportation, and his family is now searching for a country that will accept him, a stateless Palestinian, upon his release.

“This documentary records the continuous struggle of the Al-Arian family with the US government to free Dr. Sami, their husband and father.”

Director(s) :

Line Halvorsen

LINE HALVORSEN was born in 1969 in Norway and studied film at Trondheim University and Volda College. She has directed and edited more than 20 documentaries for Norwegian and international television. From 2002–04, she lived in Bethlehem, where she made the award–winning A Stone’s Throw Away (2003), about three Palestinian children. In 2004, she moved to the US and found her interests in human and civil rights and the Middle East combined in the Al-Arian case.
Crew : Jan Dalchow (Producer), Tone Andersen(Cinematographer), Trond Winterkjær(Editor)
Format : Colour/35mm
Running Time : 99 mins
Country : Nauru
Programme : Arabian Nights
Venue : Mall of the Emirates - CineStar 8, Mall of the Emirates - CineStar 8, Mall of the Emirates - CineStar 12, Mall of the Emirates - CineStar 1
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