Directing
Twelve years ago, a plague swept through, wiping out most of the population; in San Francisco, only 186 people remain. Two of them use jury-rigged batteries to power a camera and make a documentary. We see a variety of approaches to survival, from the artist and engineer who trade for their needs, to the surfers and woodsmen who fish and hunt, to the scavengers, and a communal farm. We also see how the community deals with those who threaten it, and how the youth are growing up with different values from those who knew our world.
In this quintessential film about the Muslim-American immigrant experience, Mayor Mohamed Khairullah risks his life to bring humanitarian relief into Syria while simultaneously fighting the forces of Islamophobia in the United States. When a conservative local politician in his small New Jersey town runs a campaign to unseat him as mayor, his own political survival, and a particular view of what it means to be American, is on the line.
Traveling through four continents and six countries, The Furious Force of Rhymes is a fascinating look at Hip-Hop as trans-national protest music. Over the course of the eighty-four-minute voyage, the viewer encounters characters as diverse as Israeli Jews, marginalized French Arabs, East German skinhead punks and West African feminists, all of whom share a common musical language. Originating from the ghettos of New York, Rap has found adherents in every country in the world. Recognizing themselves in the oppression of U.S. Blacks, people everywhere have adapted the American street music to their own causes. From the Bronx to Africa, this is their story.
