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

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

. It was produced by Tim Schwab and

Mahmoud Kaabour Mahmoud Kaabour (in Arabic محمود قعبور) (born March 11, 1979) is a filmmaker, writer, and public speaker from Beirut. Education and occupation He is the founder and managing director of Veritas Films, a UAE based company that specia ...

. Director Kaabour is the founder and managing director of

Veritas Films Veritas Films is a filmmaking company based in the United Arab Emirates. It creates cultural and corporate non-fiction content, including corporate films, short and feature-length documentaries, TV programming, and videos, in both English and Arabi ...

, now based in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. Co-director Schwab is an associate professor of film at Montreal's

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

Synopsis

The documentary details the lives of six

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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

-based instrumental band,

Shalabi Effect Shalabi Effect is a mostly instrumental band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band was originally formed in 1996 as a duo composed of Anthony Seck and Sam Shalabi. Shalabi is an Egyptian-Canadian musician who is also the founder of Swamp Circu ...

. He composed the soundtrack for ''Being Osama''. * Ossama al-Sarraf (better known as

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

), a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

DJ who wears dreadlocks. He is one half of the DJ duo,

Sultan + Ned Shepard Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

. * 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 Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

'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 Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

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 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

Reception and distribution

The film has been recognised as a contribution to the intellectual and artistic debate about the

Arab diaspora Arab diaspora (also known as MENA diaspora, as a short version for the Middle East and North Africa diaspora) refers to descendants of the Arab people, Arab Emigration, emigrants who, voluntarily or as refugees, emigrated from their native lands ...

. Kaabour presented it in a two-hour special on the

Zaven Kouyoumdjian Zaven Kouyoumdjian ( hy, Զաւէն Գույումճեան; ar, زافين قيومجيان) is a Lebanese talk show host, producer and television personality of both Armenian and Arab descent. He is also a media researcher and author of four b ...

pan Arab talk show "Seereh w Enfatahit" (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

سيرة وانفتحت) on the Lebanese

Future Television Future Television ( ar, تلفزيون المستقبل, ''Televiziyon al-Mustaqbal'') was a Lebanese free-to-air television station founded in 1993 by the Future Movement leader Rafik Hariri, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. Future TV was als ...

channel.

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 Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

*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 The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF; , ''FCRR'') is a charitable organization and Crown corporation responsible to foster racial harmony and cross-cultural understanding and help to eliminate racism in Canada.Canadian Race Relations Fou ...

.Review – "At a Glance" (April 21, 2005) ''Concordia's Thursday Report'' Vol.29 No.14
/ref>

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0448890
Veritas Films

Canadian documentary films Documentary films about racism in Canada Documentary films about the September 11 attacks 2004 films 2004 documentary films Arab-Canadian culture Documentary films about words and language Documentary films about Montreal Anti-Arabism in North America Stereotypes of Arab people 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films

Synopsis

Reception and distribution

Awards

See also

References

External links