Enemy Alien:
The Fight to Free Palestinian Activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti
Dir. Konrad Aderer | 70 mins | documentary work-in-progress
Discussion with Konrad Aderer, Sharin Chiorazzo, Jane Guskin, Shane Kadidal, Joanne Macri, David Wilson
Wednesday, November 12
7:00 pm
The Brecht Forum
451 West Street
New York, NY
(between Bank and Bethune Streets; take the A/C/E/L to 14th Street and 8th Avenue, or the 1/2/3 to 14th Street and 7th Ave)
Enemy Alien, a first-person documentary, offers a gripping inside view of the fight to free Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a gentle but indomitable Palestinian-born human rights activist whose politically charged detention was followed around the world. Told through the eyes of the filmmaker, the grandson of Japanese Americans interned during World War II, this documentary takes on unprecedented intimacy and historical resonance. As the filmmaker becomes personally involved in the story, Farouk organizes protests with his fellow detainees. Resistance brings consequences — though not charged with any crime, Farouk is beaten and locked in solitary confinement, and his American-born son Tarek is arrested in a counterterrorism investigation into the documentary itself.
Watch the Trailer of Enemy Alien
This event will be the first public screening of Enemy Alien, and a fundraiser to raise crucial support for the completion and distribution of this documentary. Food and drinks will be served and contributions requested (which are not included in the Brecht admission).
Konrad Aderer’s work as a documentary producer has focused on immigrants targeted by post-9/11 policies. His 2005 short Rising Up: The Alams screened internationally and in the U.S. at venues including Brooklyn Academy of Music and the New York Museum of Modern Art’s Documentary Fortnight. Konrad freelances as a field producer, videographer, and editor.
Shayana Kadidal, Farouk’s lead attorney, is senior managing attorney of the Guantánamo Global Justice Initiative at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Attorney Joanne Macri is the director of the Immigrant Defense Project of the New York State Defenders Association.
Sharin Chiorazzo, Farouk’s fiancee, is a teacher of Middle Eastern history and a longtime activist for Palestinian rights; for several years she hosted “Live from Palestine” at WBAI-FM.
Jane Guskin and David Wilson worked with the Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti; they are the authors of The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers (Monthly Review, 2007)
Sliding scale: $6/$10/$15
Free for Brecht Forum Subscribers
For more information: <brechtforum.org/node/2027> and <lifeorliberty.org/enemyalien.html>.
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