citizenship we don’t have you don’t have
citizenship as in you don’t have a
country that’s right where are you from
Israel no no it’s the Palestinian
territory
the occupation yes it is like you posit
for 40 years I’m a political sort of
activist background and became a
filmmaker because I thought there was an
opportunity to tell stories that haven’t
been told that have the potential to
change the way people see things and so
you know came from that need to do
something to kind of not to be cliche
but they got to make the world a better
place I would say my experience as a
fourteen-year-old during the first Gulf
War was really what inspired Enrica and
I carried that story with me throughout
the years and when I finally went to
film school in 2003 we had you know the
u.s. had invaded Iraq again and it was
post 9/11 we were it was like history
just repeating itself and I was hearing
all these stories of Arabs you know hate
crimes and the way you know taxi drivers
in New York were afraid and people were
putting up the flags and they’re in
their cabs and of course it just took me
back and made me think about why I
became a filmmaker to begin with and
that was kind of when I realized I
needed to sit down and write the story
Arica actually means America and Arabic
so I mean I was when I was young my
parents spoke Arabic only at home and I
only really started only learned English
when I started school so I was really
confused my first year of school
kindergarten I was sort of mixing arabic
and english in fact I would and I would
add ing endings to the end of Arabic
verbs so it kind of had my own language
and I when I got older I started making
fun of myself and saying that I speak
Arabic so M Rica was kind of my way of
finding a title that for me was really
what the language I’m most comfortable
speaking in a movie that is really this
melding of two cultures
the board we’re hella Balotelli okay
Nina’s a war a samosa Gina but no aside
from the story being inspired by my own
family in this small town it’s also
inspired by my aunt who the character
muna is based upon and and her
immigration to the US and by the time
she immigrated I was old enough to
really see her struggle so for me the
movie is really a sort of heartbreaking
and heartwarming story of a woman who is
trying to start a new life and not just
not just having to deal with the things
that every immigrant deals with with
just fitting into a new culture but also
having to deal with some of the backlash
from you know living in a country where
there are certain stereotypes and where
the political climate is not so friendly
she came in in red and from the first
moment it’s you know many times you just
know and she really had a life about her
a sort of a sweetness a kindness about
her and and almost like a childlike
wonder I don’t really know how else to
put it other than there was something
about her that was so youthful and yet I
could still see in her eyes like the
depth of of sadness that you know that
life the life experience had had given
her so there was this really kind of
beautiful blend of melancholy yet hope
and use and you know someone who really
wanted to live
people who read the assignment they
targeted aliens with ties to come in
Fetty for uh it’s fadi isn’t that what I
said I take it that you mom check it out
have a seat welcome to current world
issues I’m mr. Jones what are you
joining us from he’s something about him
that was angry what you’re really liked
yet bottled up and there was something
about him that was political yet
refusing to be you know or at least
consciously refusing to be political
even though a lot of his motivations
felt political and his anger felt
political so there was there was a
really interesting thing there there was
a there’s something I liked about him a
lot as well for the character which was
that he he’s a kid I mean you see that
he’s a kid yet he has a maturity about
him
and he has the ability to be the man as
well which is what I was looking for in
the relationship between Munna and her
son Fatih I’m really excited about about
the cast I mean that’s really the most
exciting thing to me that the fact that
I was really able to find this family
and each person brings such uniqueness
to the character in such depth to each
character more depth than I actually
really imagined and working with them
has been so great because through the
collaboration we’ve just found we found
such moments of truth in such real
moments that that’s been one of the most
exciting things I want people to walk
away with a sense of hope that you know
these stereotypes aren’t necessary that
you know there are all kinds of Middle
Eastern people that the culture is a
really beautiful thing that we should
celebrate and that we’re all lucky to be
here
citizenship as in you don’t have a
country that’s right where are you from
Israel no no it’s the Palestinian
territory
the occupation yes it is like you posit
for 40 years I’m a political sort of
activist background and became a
filmmaker because I thought there was an
opportunity to tell stories that haven’t
been told that have the potential to
change the way people see things and so
you know came from that need to do
something to kind of not to be cliche
but they got to make the world a better
place I would say my experience as a
fourteen-year-old during the first Gulf
War was really what inspired Enrica and
I carried that story with me throughout
the years and when I finally went to
film school in 2003 we had you know the
u.s. had invaded Iraq again and it was
post 9/11 we were it was like history
just repeating itself and I was hearing
all these stories of Arabs you know hate
crimes and the way you know taxi drivers
in New York were afraid and people were
putting up the flags and they’re in
their cabs and of course it just took me
back and made me think about why I
became a filmmaker to begin with and
that was kind of when I realized I
needed to sit down and write the story
Arica actually means America and Arabic
so I mean I was when I was young my
parents spoke Arabic only at home and I
only really started only learned English
when I started school so I was really
confused my first year of school
kindergarten I was sort of mixing arabic
and english in fact I would and I would
add ing endings to the end of Arabic
verbs so it kind of had my own language
and I when I got older I started making
fun of myself and saying that I speak
Arabic so M Rica was kind of my way of
finding a title that for me was really
what the language I’m most comfortable
speaking in a movie that is really this
melding of two cultures
the board we’re hella Balotelli okay
Nina’s a war a samosa Gina but no aside
from the story being inspired by my own
family in this small town it’s also
inspired by my aunt who the character
muna is based upon and and her
immigration to the US and by the time
she immigrated I was old enough to
really see her struggle so for me the
movie is really a sort of heartbreaking
and heartwarming story of a woman who is
trying to start a new life and not just
not just having to deal with the things
that every immigrant deals with with
just fitting into a new culture but also
having to deal with some of the backlash
from you know living in a country where
there are certain stereotypes and where
the political climate is not so friendly
she came in in red and from the first
moment it’s you know many times you just
know and she really had a life about her
a sort of a sweetness a kindness about
her and and almost like a childlike
wonder I don’t really know how else to
put it other than there was something
about her that was so youthful and yet I
could still see in her eyes like the
depth of of sadness that you know that
life the life experience had had given
her so there was this really kind of
beautiful blend of melancholy yet hope
and use and you know someone who really
wanted to live
people who read the assignment they
targeted aliens with ties to come in
Fetty for uh it’s fadi isn’t that what I
said I take it that you mom check it out
have a seat welcome to current world
issues I’m mr. Jones what are you
joining us from he’s something about him
that was angry what you’re really liked
yet bottled up and there was something
about him that was political yet
refusing to be you know or at least
consciously refusing to be political
even though a lot of his motivations
felt political and his anger felt
political so there was there was a
really interesting thing there there was
a there’s something I liked about him a
lot as well for the character which was
that he he’s a kid I mean you see that
he’s a kid yet he has a maturity about
him
and he has the ability to be the man as
well which is what I was looking for in
the relationship between Munna and her
son Fatih I’m really excited about about
the cast I mean that’s really the most
exciting thing to me that the fact that
I was really able to find this family
and each person brings such uniqueness
to the character in such depth to each
character more depth than I actually
really imagined and working with them
has been so great because through the
collaboration we’ve just found we found
such moments of truth in such real
moments that that’s been one of the most
exciting things I want people to walk
away with a sense of hope that you know
these stereotypes aren’t necessary that
you know there are all kinds of Middle
Eastern people that the culture is a
really beautiful thing that we should
celebrate and that we’re all lucky to be
here
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