Community Corner

Award Winning 9/11 Documentary Plays in South Barrington

"Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football and the American Dream" will be shown at AMC South Barrington From Sept. 9-15.

It’s been nearly 10 years since the Sept. 11 attacks on our country that rocked the entire world. All of us have been affected in one way or another, but a group of Chicagoland filmmakers are telling a story not everyone has heard.

The documentary, Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football and the American Dream tells the story of a high school football team from Dearborn, Mich. in a post 9/11 world.

The film follows the team, composed of predominately Arab-Americans, as they prepare for their big cross-town rivalry game during the last 10 days of the Ramadan. Ramadan is month where Muslims traditionally fast from sunrise to sunset, making the already physically draining sport of football even more difficult.

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“This was an opportunity to use the universal language of sports, football, to tell their story of living in a post 9/11 world,” Ash-har Quraishi, a producer of the documentary said.

As the team prepares for the big game, the film depicts how the Arab community of Dearborn struggles to hold onto their Islamic faith and gain acceptance. 

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“For us, it was an interesting opportunity to explore the fallout of 9/11 on a specific community,” Quraishi said. “It [Dearborn] was one of those communities that it affected in a different way...There is obviously something in the national discourse with regards to how Muslim-Americans fit into society. There’s so much mystery into who they are, what they eat, what they believe. This was an opportunity for us to gain access—we’re invited into these homes and we get to hear their candid thoughts,” Quraishi said.

Fordson has taken home a slew of film festival awards, including the 2011 Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Traverse City Film Festival. Renowned filmmaker Michael Moore has even offered praise, calling the movie “Powerful…Intelligent…Moving. I want everyone in the country to watch this film.”

“Everyone from Michael Moore to the American government, to the military, to the average person is seeing something in this film," Quraishi said. "That’s what I think is interesting to me, it has a message that crosses all lines.”

Fordson is premiering in select AMC movie theatres from Sept. 9-15. Only 18 theaters across the country have been selected for the exclusive presentation, and the AMC in South Barrington is one of them. 

“This is something that’s going to be good for all Americans,” Quraishi said. “It’s an immigrant story, it’s about chasing the American dream.”

For more information on the film, including movie show times, visit fordsonthemovie.com.


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