Loading ...Metro Detroit director's film on Syria heading to Congress
Julie Hinds
Detroit Free Press
Metro Detroit filmmaker Sam Kadi’s new documentary, “Little Gandhi,” is heading to Congress and beyond.
The movie is about Syrian peace activist Ghiyath Matar, a young tailor who became a famous figure in Syria’s freedom movement. Known for giving flowers and water to troops sent to break up grassroots protests, Matar was detained by Syrian security forces and died in their custody in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of State’s condemnation of his killing.
“Little Gandhi” will be shown March 15 at the Rayburn House Office Building and introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ed Royce, R-Calif. Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Frederic Hoff and others will join Kadi in a question-and-answer session afterward.
The film also will be screened March 18 on the opening night of a three-day conference in Washington D.C. to mark the five-year anniversary of the Syrian uprising.
In January, “Little Gandhi” was shown in Qatar to an audience of government officials and foreign ambassadors.
Kadi, who’s based in Commerce Township and originally is from Syria, earned strong festival notices for his first narrative feature, 2013’s “The Citizen.”
The story of a Lebanese green card lottery winner who lands in New York City the day before 9/11, “The Citizen” was filmed in the Motor City and featured Egyptian star Khaled Nabawy, William Atherton (“Ghostbusters”), Cary Elwes ( “The Princess Bride”) and Agnes Bruckner (Lifetime’s “The Anna Nicole Story”).
Director Sam Kadi of ‘Little Gandhi” (Photo: Courtesy Sam Kadi)
In order to make “”Little Gandhi,” Kadi and cinematographer Carl Ballou didn’t travel to the dangerous, war-ravaged country. Instead, they relied on Skype and the help of activists in Syria who set up interviews and shot footage under their tutelage and Kadi’s direction. The process of secretly transporting the digital files made by Syrian assistants out of Syria took about half a year.
“I made this film to build a better understanding of what the Syrian Revolution is all about and what it stands for, years before the Arab Spring,” said Kadi in a news release. “These brave activists who were inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi kept the movement peaceful in spite of the Syrian regime’s escalating violence.”
Source: www.freep.com