AmericanEast
Encyclopedia
AmericanEast is a 2007
American
drama film
about Arab-Americans living in Post-9/11
Los Angeles
. The story examines long-held misunderstandings about Arabic and Islamic culture, and puts a human face on a segment
of the U.S. population whom most Americans
know nothing about, but who today are of particular interest to them, either from curiosity or suspicion. The story highlights the pressures under which many Arab-Americans now live by focusing on the points-of-view of three main characters.
ed Egyptian
immigrant and the owner of Habibe’s Café, a popular hang-out for Los Angelenos
with Middle East
ern backgrounds. He is devoted to providing his son Richard Chagoury with a moral upbringing despite the pressures of contemporary American urban life. He also finds himself cast in the role of protector to his unwed sister Salwah
(Sarah Shahi), for whom, by family and tribal custom, he is responsible for finding a traditional suitor. But his respect for tradition comes up against his own aspirations to adapt to the American Dream when he decides to open a new restaurant with a Jewish partner – his friend Sam
(Tony Shalhoub). This unholy alliance is unpopular amongst the habitués of his café and the insular Arab community in which Mustafa resides. It is one of several personal points of tension that gradually build against the backdrop of larger, national events affecting the Arab-American community and lead to the explosive denouement of the story.
Salwah, Mustafa’s sister, must also reconcile her traditional values
and familial obligations with new American realities. Although she is grateful to Mustafa for bringing her to America when she was young, and allowing her to pursue an education, conflict arises between them when Mustafa insists upon fulfilling his duty of finding her a traditional, arranged-marriage partner from Egypt. The arrival of this arranged suitor, her older cousin Saber (Al Faris), throws her life into turmoil and makes her question her own beliefs and faith. Secretly, she is attracted to an American, Dr. John Westerman
(Tim Guinee), a young and attractive non-Muslim. Any caution she feels toward him, however, is thrown to the wind by the abrupt arrival of Saber and a possible impending marriage that she does not want. She becomes sorely tempted to experience intimacy with the young doctor outside of marriage, a taboo. While she undergoes this internal conflict, her suitor Saber is staying as a guest at the home she shares with Mustafa and his children, and the incompatibility between this traditional man, her future husband, and Mustafa’s Americanized family is another source of irritation adding to the mounting tensions underlying the story.
Mustafa’s friend Omar (Kais Nashef) is a struggling actor and Habibe’s Café regular, a young Egyptian man who supports his dream of becoming a movie star by working as a part-time cab driver for Mustafa’s ragged, one-car taxi company. Because of his Middle Eastern looks and accent, however, he is constantly cast in the role of a terrorist in American TV shows that portray only a shallow understanding of Arabs and their culture. When an opportunity for a non-racially-designated role arrives, Omar feels his chance for success—to be seen as an actor first and not a Muslim—has finally arrived. It is the break he has been waiting for on many levels: a chance at the financial freedom necessary to marry and support his pregnant American girlfriend Kate
(Amanda Detmer), and a chance for him, and his future child, to be embraced as an American, in the same way that he has embraced America.
But misunderstandings and prejudices related to his Arabic background conspire against him once again and his opportunity is lost, pushing Omar to make a drastic, unreasoned decision that sets off a chain of events leading to a violent conclusion that affects the lives and conflicts of all the other characters – an explosive reminder of the simmering pressures under which Muslims live in the United States today. Will their American Dreams be shattered by a climate of distrust and suspicion, or will their hopes and aspirations be embraced by their fellow Americans?
, Golden Globe, and three-time Emmy-winning film and TV star Tony Shalhoub, then in his second season of the hit comedy series Monk
. The two young filmmakers wanted the veteran actor to commit to a short film idea they wished to shoot. A few years previous, Badreya had met Shalhoub in a Cuban restaurant in L.A. by walking up to him and introducing himself and managing to leave the chance encounter with Shalhoub’s phone number in hand. Against all odds, and much to his credit, Shalhoub agreed to consider working with the two young men.
The concept for the short film, written by Issawi and writer Dick Grunert, was, in fact, very close to Sayed Badreya’s real-life conundrum as an Arab-American actor struggling to find roles in the U.S. – he was always cast as a terrorist. Shalhoub responded strongly to the idea, seeing both its poignant and comedic possibilities—and so began the production of the short film T for Terrorist, which the three filmed in March 2003 with Tony Shalhoub performing, Sayed Badreya starring and producing, and Hesham Issawi directing and producing.
When the short did well on the festival circuit, winning Best Short Film awards at the Boston International Film Festival and the San Francisco World Film Festival, the three determined to expand upon the idea of T for Terrorist to develop a bigger project that would represent more characters from the Arab-American community who they felt were constantly being stereotyped by Hollywood. Out of their frustration with that misrepresentation, the idea for AmericanEast began to take shape. Keeping the concept of the frustrated Muslim actor who is always cast as a terrorist, but now giving it a more tragic spin, they began to work on a storyline that touched on their own lives and experiences as Middle Easterners, and the lives and experiences of others, such as Tony Shalhoub’s father, himself a Lebanese
immigrant. With Shalhoub providing support as an executive producer with development funds, and Issawi and Badreya writing, the project began to take form.
In 2005, once a feature-length script was in hand, Shalhoub began looking for a producer and production company. Through a mutual friend, he approached producer Brian Cox at Distant Horizon, an international film financing company headed by Anant Singh and known for taking a stand on political and social issues in films such as the Oscar-nominated Yesterday. Cox read the script and immediately saw the relevance and timeliness of the project. The company optioned the rights to the project, which they considered the first true Arab-American film, and Cox began to develop the script further with the filmmakers. Eventually, co-production funding was sought through Zahra Pictures, a company run by independent producer Ahmad Zahra, and backed by investor Mohannad Malas, which had made its name specializing in films focusing on Muslim and interfaith issues. Next, line producer Jeff Kirshbaum was brought on to oversee day-to-day production. So, with the production team, the script, and the full funding in place, the film was slated to begin principal photography in the summer of 2006.
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
about Arab-Americans living in Post-9/11
Post-9/11
Post-9/11 is a term used to describe state of living in the United States or other parts of the world after the September 11 attacks, in reference to the many changes that have occurred due to the attacks...
Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The story examines long-held misunderstandings about Arabic and Islamic culture, and puts a human face on a segment
Segment
Segment may mean:*The divisions found in the internal section of a citrus fruit* Market segment, the smaller subgroups comprising a marketComputing*Segmentation , the division of computer memory into segments...
of the U.S. population whom most Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
know nothing about, but who today are of particular interest to them, either from curiosity or suspicion. The story highlights the pressures under which many Arab-Americans now live by focusing on the points-of-view of three main characters.
Story
Mustafa (Sayed Badreya) is a widowWidow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
ed Egyptian
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
immigrant and the owner of Habibe’s Café, a popular hang-out for Los Angelenos
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern backgrounds. He is devoted to providing his son Richard Chagoury with a moral upbringing despite the pressures of contemporary American urban life. He also finds himself cast in the role of protector to his unwed sister Salwah
Sarah Shahi
Aahoo Jahansouz "Sarah" Shahi is an American actress and a former NFL Cheerleader. She is probably best known for starring in The L Word as Carmen de la Pica Morales and in Life as Detective Dani Reese...
(Sarah Shahi), for whom, by family and tribal custom, he is responsible for finding a traditional suitor. But his respect for tradition comes up against his own aspirations to adapt to the American Dream when he decides to open a new restaurant with a Jewish partner – his friend Sam
Tony Shalhoub
Anthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
(Tony Shalhoub). This unholy alliance is unpopular amongst the habitués of his café and the insular Arab community in which Mustafa resides. It is one of several personal points of tension that gradually build against the backdrop of larger, national events affecting the Arab-American community and lead to the explosive denouement of the story.
Salwah, Mustafa’s sister, must also reconcile her traditional values
Traditional values
Traditional values refer to those beliefs, moral codes, and mores that are passed down from generation to generation within a culture, subculture or community.-Summary:Since the late 1970s in the U.S., the term "traditional values" has become synonymous...
and familial obligations with new American realities. Although she is grateful to Mustafa for bringing her to America when she was young, and allowing her to pursue an education, conflict arises between them when Mustafa insists upon fulfilling his duty of finding her a traditional, arranged-marriage partner from Egypt. The arrival of this arranged suitor, her older cousin Saber (Al Faris), throws her life into turmoil and makes her question her own beliefs and faith. Secretly, she is attracted to an American, Dr. John Westerman
Tim Guinee
Timothy S. "Tim" Guinee is an American stage, television, and feature film actor.-Life and career:Guinee, who has two brothers and two sisters, was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Illinois and Texas....
(Tim Guinee), a young and attractive non-Muslim. Any caution she feels toward him, however, is thrown to the wind by the abrupt arrival of Saber and a possible impending marriage that she does not want. She becomes sorely tempted to experience intimacy with the young doctor outside of marriage, a taboo. While she undergoes this internal conflict, her suitor Saber is staying as a guest at the home she shares with Mustafa and his children, and the incompatibility between this traditional man, her future husband, and Mustafa’s Americanized family is another source of irritation adding to the mounting tensions underlying the story.
Mustafa’s friend Omar (Kais Nashef) is a struggling actor and Habibe’s Café regular, a young Egyptian man who supports his dream of becoming a movie star by working as a part-time cab driver for Mustafa’s ragged, one-car taxi company. Because of his Middle Eastern looks and accent, however, he is constantly cast in the role of a terrorist in American TV shows that portray only a shallow understanding of Arabs and their culture. When an opportunity for a non-racially-designated role arrives, Omar feels his chance for success—to be seen as an actor first and not a Muslim—has finally arrived. It is the break he has been waiting for on many levels: a chance at the financial freedom necessary to marry and support his pregnant American girlfriend Kate
Amanda Detmer
Amanda Jeannette Detmer is an American actress who has appeared in various films and television shows.-Life and career:...
(Amanda Detmer), and a chance for him, and his future child, to be embraced as an American, in the same way that he has embraced America.
But misunderstandings and prejudices related to his Arabic background conspire against him once again and his opportunity is lost, pushing Omar to make a drastic, unreasoned decision that sets off a chain of events leading to a violent conclusion that affects the lives and conflicts of all the other characters – an explosive reminder of the simmering pressures under which Muslims live in the United States today. Will their American Dreams be shattered by a climate of distrust and suspicion, or will their hopes and aspirations be embraced by their fellow Americans?
The Beginnings
In March 2003, writer/director Hesham Issawi and actor-writer Sayed Badreya, both Egyptian-born and living in Los Angeles, met with SAGSAG
Sag or SAG may refer to:* sag * a sag pond* a lens sag, distortion of astronomical lenses and mirrors* Sagittarius , in astronomy*Sagittarius * Sag Harbor, New York* Sâg, a commune in Sălaj County, Romania...
, Golden Globe, and three-time Emmy-winning film and TV star Tony Shalhoub, then in his second season of the hit comedy series Monk
Monk (TV series)
Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...
. The two young filmmakers wanted the veteran actor to commit to a short film idea they wished to shoot. A few years previous, Badreya had met Shalhoub in a Cuban restaurant in L.A. by walking up to him and introducing himself and managing to leave the chance encounter with Shalhoub’s phone number in hand. Against all odds, and much to his credit, Shalhoub agreed to consider working with the two young men.
The concept for the short film, written by Issawi and writer Dick Grunert, was, in fact, very close to Sayed Badreya’s real-life conundrum as an Arab-American actor struggling to find roles in the U.S. – he was always cast as a terrorist. Shalhoub responded strongly to the idea, seeing both its poignant and comedic possibilities—and so began the production of the short film T for Terrorist, which the three filmed in March 2003 with Tony Shalhoub performing, Sayed Badreya starring and producing, and Hesham Issawi directing and producing.
When the short did well on the festival circuit, winning Best Short Film awards at the Boston International Film Festival and the San Francisco World Film Festival, the three determined to expand upon the idea of T for Terrorist to develop a bigger project that would represent more characters from the Arab-American community who they felt were constantly being stereotyped by Hollywood. Out of their frustration with that misrepresentation, the idea for AmericanEast began to take shape. Keeping the concept of the frustrated Muslim actor who is always cast as a terrorist, but now giving it a more tragic spin, they began to work on a storyline that touched on their own lives and experiences as Middle Easterners, and the lives and experiences of others, such as Tony Shalhoub’s father, himself a Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
immigrant. With Shalhoub providing support as an executive producer with development funds, and Issawi and Badreya writing, the project began to take form.
In 2005, once a feature-length script was in hand, Shalhoub began looking for a producer and production company. Through a mutual friend, he approached producer Brian Cox at Distant Horizon, an international film financing company headed by Anant Singh and known for taking a stand on political and social issues in films such as the Oscar-nominated Yesterday. Cox read the script and immediately saw the relevance and timeliness of the project. The company optioned the rights to the project, which they considered the first true Arab-American film, and Cox began to develop the script further with the filmmakers. Eventually, co-production funding was sought through Zahra Pictures, a company run by independent producer Ahmad Zahra, and backed by investor Mohannad Malas, which had made its name specializing in films focusing on Muslim and interfaith issues. Next, line producer Jeff Kirshbaum was brought on to oversee day-to-day production. So, with the production team, the script, and the full funding in place, the film was slated to begin principal photography in the summer of 2006.
Cast
- Sayed Badreya as Mustafa Marzouke
- Tony ShalhoubTony ShalhoubAnthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
as Sam - Michael Shalhoub as Sam's Brother
- Sarah ShahiSarah ShahiAahoo Jahansouz "Sarah" Shahi is an American actress and a former NFL Cheerleader. She is probably best known for starring in The L Word as Carmen de la Pica Morales and in Life as Detective Dani Reese...
as Salwah Marzoke - Chritine Kuludjian as Sam's Wife
- Tim GuineeTim GuineeTimothy S. "Tim" Guinee is an American stage, television, and feature film actor.-Life and career:Guinee, who has two brothers and two sisters, was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Illinois and Texas....
as Dr. Westerman - Richard Chagoury as Mohammed Marzoke
- Al Faris as Sabir
- Diane Kim as The Woman In Airport
- Mark Daniel Cade as The Federal Agent
- Ray WiseRay WiseRaymond Nicolas "Ray" Wise is an American actor, known for his roles as Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks, as Leon C. Nash, right-hand henchman to villain Clarence Boddicker in the science fiction classic RoboCop, and recently as the Devil in the CW television series Reaper.-Life and career:Wise was...
as Agent Stevens - Haaz SleimanHaaz Sleiman-Career:One of Sleiman's first roles was in the 2004 African-American gay comedy film The Ski Trip. He co-starred as undocumented Syrian immigrant Tarek in the critically acclaimed 2008 independent film The Visitor, a drama nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Oscar, directed by Thomas...
as The Angry Customer - Tay Blessey as Leila Marzoke
- Sammy SheikSammy SheikSammy Sheik is an Egyptian actor. Sammy is best known for his recurring role of "Masheer" on the hit Fox series 24.-Life and career:...
as Abdulla - Erick AvariErick AvariErick Avari is an Indian American television, film and theater actor known for his roles in various science-fiction serial productions.-Early life:...
as Fikry - John Bryant Davila as Mohammed
- Kimi ReichenbergKimi ReichenbergKimi Reichenberg is an American actress. She has appeared in the movie Crazy/Beautiful. She has also guest starred in Mr. Monk, Watching Ellie, NYPD Blue, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Online Gamer Series.-External links:...
as Leila's Friend - Anthony AziziAnthony AziziAnthony Azizi is an American television actor.Born in New York City of Iranian descent, Azizi is mainly known for his television work. He has had recurring roles on 24 as terrorist Mamud Faheen , on 24 as Rafique and on Commander in Chief as presidential aide Vince Taylor...
as Murad - Narmar Hanna as The Arabic Channel Reporter
- Kais Nashef as Omar
- Amanda DetmerAmanda DetmerAmanda Jeannette Detmer is an American actress who has appeared in various films and television shows.-Life and career:...
as Kate - Constance ZimmerConstance ZimmerConstance Zimmer is an American actress perhaps best known for her role as Dana Gordon in HBO's Entourage and as Claire Simms on the critically acclaimed ABC legal comedy-drama Boston Legal...
As The Director of American Safety - Paul Clausen as The Assistant Director
- Tony PlanaTony PlanaTony Plana is a Cuban-American actor and director. He is well known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC show Ugly Betty.-Personal life:...
as Dez - Sam GolzariSam GolzariSam Golzari is a British actor of Iranian descent active in the United States. He is known for his debut role in American Dreamz.Golzari was born in Hammersmith, London, England, to parents of Persian origin...
as David - Alfre WoodardAlfre WoodardAlfre Ette Woodard is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Grammy Awards, 17 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.She is known for her role in films such as Cross Creek, Miss...
as Angela Jensen - Mike Batayeh as YaYa
- Manny Kleinmuntz as Ben
See also
- List of cultural references of the September 11 attacks
- CrashCrash (2004 film)Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis, Crash was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video...
- Without A TraceWithout a TraceWithout a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:...
, "In Extremis" - Monsieur IbrahimMonsieur IbrahimMonsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran , also known as Monsieur Ibrahim in English, is a 2003 French movie starring Omar Sharif, and directed by François Dupeyron. The movie is based on a book and a play by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt.-Plot:...