Time for Ilhan

Showings

Rafael 1 Sun, Oct 7, 2018 5:30 PM
Century Larkspur Tue, Oct 9, 2018 8:30 PM
Film Info
Category:Active Cinema
Mind the Gap
Section:Valley of the Docs
Country:US
Year:2018
Running Time:89 min.
Director:Norah Shapiro
Producer:Chris Newberry
Norah Shapiro
Jennifer Steinnman
Cinematographer:Chris Newberry
Editor:Jen Bradwell
Eli Olson
Cast:Ilhan Omar
Print Source:The Film Sales Company
Note Writer:Carol Harada

Description

Navigating multilayered prejudice with grace and grit, Ilhan Omar serves as a voice for the voiceless and an inspiration to the global new wave of women running for public office as she seeks to unseat a 43-year incumbent from the Minnesota House of Representatives. If Omar wins the election, she will be the first Somali American elected to a legislature in the United States. A skillful community organizer and young wife and mother, Omar reaches out to those in her district being left behind: Somali and other East African refugees and immigrants dealing with poverty and high unemployment; college students bearing crushing loan debt; and voters seeking more social and environmental justice. This intimate, riveting account of Omar’s 2016 run reflects the national Democratic Party’s chasm between entrenched moderates and younger, more progressive candidates, often female and people of color. The twists and turns of Omar’s trailblazing career amplify the message at this sea change in US politics: Stop asking permission to run.

Expected Guests: Director Norah Shapiro; Producer Jennifer Steinman (All Screenings); Film Subject Ilhan Omar (Oct. 7)

Sponsored by:

In association with Marin County Young Democrats

Additional Information

Norah Shapiro is an award-winning Minneapolis-based filmmaker who left a decade-long career as a public defender to pursue documentary filmmaking and hasn’t looked back. Her first feature Miss Tibet: Beauty in Exile (2014) premiered at the 2014 DOC NYC and has screened around the world. She is currently producing a new documentary project about the recently solved 27-year old abduction of a young Minnesota boy in rural Minnesota and its far-reaching impact. Norah is also proud member of the Minnesota Chapter of Film Fatales, and mother of 3.