My Friend’s Indie Movie Keeps Garnering Awards!
I just had to ask, “How did you do it?”
“The name is Namou, Weam Namou.” You better remember it. Because this woman is going places! Michigan writer, poet, and filmmaker Weam Namou arrived in suburban Detroit from Iraq as a child. I only recently learned that Detroit has a long history with that part of the world¹.
Our friendship started some two decades ago, in the Rochester writers’ group, and wherever I am in the world, we remain in touch. Somehow, I always come across stories or images that remind me of her. Like when I read a quote by Enheduanna² at the XVA Art Hotel in Dubai. Thanks to Weam, I knew who she was…
A keen observer who was born with an urge to tell stories, she takes a passionate interest in the history of her people.
Weam is a keen observer who was born with an urge to tell stories. She takes a passionate interest in the history of her people, from Babylonian/Assyrian times through today. Her latest movie, Pomegranate, has been making waves. It’s especially close to my heart as it is set in a neighborhood where my family and I lived for several years, and where Weam still lives: the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights, AKA “Little Baghdad”. I got her to take time off her busy schedule to answer some questions…
EK: I have known you for many years as a writer. It was a surprise for me when you enrolled in a Michigan film school. What made you decide to take that step?
In 2003, I was at the Surrey Writer’s Conference in Vancouver and met with three producers: one who’d produced Father of the Bride II; another who produced Pay it Forward; the third, I forgot what he produced. I pitched to them, and their reactions to my story ideas were quite unique. Even though the U.S. had been politically involved with Iraq for decades, even though my stories were of modern-day Iraqis and Iraqi-Americans, these producers didn’t see how they could possibly adapt them into film. “It would be difficult to cast an Arabic movie,” one said. “Who would we cast for the leading role? Tom Hanks?”
As if Tom Hanks is the only actor in Hollywood! Plus, it was not a problem to cast him in The Terminal, a sweet and delicate comedy, similar to my type of work. In it, Tom plays a man from the fictional country of Krakozhia who is stuck at John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was possible to cast Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta as women, but it was impossible to get a good actor to play a normal Arab?
They represented Arab characters as thieves, murderers, and brutes.
The roles of “bad” Arabs have been easily played by other western actors, starting with Rudolph Valentino. In the 1920’s he starred in The Sheik and Son of the Sheik, two films which set the stage for the exploitation and negative portrayal of Arabs in Hollywood films. They both represented Arab characters as thieves, murderers, and brutes. The Wind and the Lion (1975), set in 1904, starred Sean Connery as an Arab who kidnaps an American woman in Morocco and demands a large ransom from President Theodore Roosevelt. Other actors include Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Baghdad and Richard Gere in Sahara.
I didn’t make such remarks to that particular producer, who smiled at me as though I was a naïve little girl. In the middle of our conversation, he had even winked at his colleague, as if to say, “Isn’t she a darling creature to have such profound visions?”
I walked away uninfluenced by their discouragement. Yet I understood that if I was to have my non-stereotypical stories reach the largest audiences possible, which of course would be through films, I would have to model myself on Mira Nair, the highly acclaimed filmmaker from India who is great at telling stories that bridge the gap between cultures. I love her work! She challenges audiences to think about assumptions, stereotypes, and prejudices, and how these manifest themselves in our relationships.
The Surrey conference was in October, and by September of the following year I was a film student at the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan. It was a one-year program where I ended up doing a short film for my thesis, a comedy called Green Card Wedding. The film was screened at Novi’s Emagine Theater, and the reaction was so wonderful — people laughed where they where supposed to laugh! — I decided I would extend it into a feature length film. That was the start of my film career.
EK: In your writing, be it fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, you have covered many different areas and topics, ranging from your Chaldean roots, the history of your ancestors, to politics, to spirituality. Briefly, what came first and how did one thing lead to another?
I’m a storyteller. I decided early on (in the mid-1990s) that I would write authentic stories of my Chaldean / Iraqi people and culture, whether they be fiction, nonfiction, or other genres because there was a tremendous void in that area. I’ve done that ever since. The topics of my stories evolve the way I do as a person and writer.
EK: Your non-fiction book, The Great American Family (2016) was the first one of your books that you turned into a film. The subject matter was quite political. How were both the book and the documentary received?
The Great American Family was about Dawn Hanna, a businesswoman who at the time was serving a six-year prison sentence for “conspiring to sell telecom equipment to Iraq” during the sanctions. Unbeknownst to her, and to the jury who tried her, her co-conspirator was a CIA operative. The operation was, in fact, set up to benefit the U.S.
This was the most difficult book for me to write because it required a lot of research, interviews, and a subject matter I wanted to distance myself from (Iraqi-American politics). When Dawn’s family approached me to bring attention to their daughter having received an unfair trial, I really resisted. Ultimately I ended up taking on the project because the idea that US government officials can use their power to destroy the lives of a family, just to climb up the career ladder, disturbed me. Having come from a totalitarian country, Sadam’s Iraq, I felt a responsibility toward this story.
The book ended up winning an Eric Hoffer Book Award, and the feature film, which I wrote, produced, and directed, won over a dozen awards and is currently available on Amazon Prime and other streaming channels. The Chaldean Cultural Center hosted a community film screening at the Maple Theater in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The 200-seat theater sold out. Given all this, I guess the film was well received!
EK: Pomegranate (2021) is a charming fictional story set in a neighborhood I know well, as I have lived there myself. The film turned out quite humorous, partly thanks to the talented cast you found. Niran’s mother, especially, had me in stitches. How did you go about finding them?
There’s a lot of humor in our homes and family dynamics. This is something I love about our community, but unfortunately, it’s not what the media and the film industry let us see. For me, incorporating humor in my stories comes naturally. Humor in general is important in stories. It’s a way to connect with others, diffuse tension, and show humility and humanity.
Pomegranate’s script was selected as a quarterfinalist by Francis Coppola’s Zoetrope. Buffalo 8 Productions (Santa Monica, California) then partnered with me during the development stage. Later, one of Hollywood’s most successful independent producers, Scott Rosenfelt, known for box office hits like Home Alone and Mystic Pizza, signed on as the film’s executive producer.
The Great American Family was the first feature film I directed, but it was a documentary, so the process was much different than a narrative film. Narrative films require casting actors, and our Hollywood producer and casting director, Sam Sako, played a major role in that. We had thousands of actors submit for the different roles through a website portal that connects filmmakers with actors. This was during COVID, and we did casting (and later rehearsals) via Zoom, which was great because it saved us time and money, especially since several of our actors were not local.
Samya Rahmani, our lead actress who played Niran, also emailed me directly — something she wasn’t supposed to do but which I was happy she did. Watching her reel, I told Sam, “She’s the one!” And after she auditioned, she proved to be just that. I found Zain Shami, who played her mother Hassina, on the website portal — just when we began worrying that we wouldn’t find someone with the unique characteristics that Hassina had. Zain was an actress and comedian, and a hijabi in real life. Only during the audition did I learn that both Samya and Zain were born in Iraq! I was the one who found Natally Boutros, who plays Mary. She is a local talent and we happen to be related (she was the flower girl at my wedding).
Thanks to divine intervention, we ended up with our actors representing the community they portrayed. The Muslim family is Muslim in real life, with the exception of Jordyn Kashat who plays Niran’s little sister. They were all of Iraqi background, with the exception of Ismail Taher who plays Ali (Niran’s brother). The actors who played the Chaldean family were all Chaldean.
We all knew the importance of Pomegranate. It’s the first Iraqi American feature narrative, the story is inspiring and full of love and humor, and it’s led by women's talent. So the cast and crew were all incredibly supportive of each other and made sure to see it through to the end. Their hard work paid off: Samya won Best Leading Actress at Birsa Munda Intl. Film Awards, India. Zain won Best Supporting Actress at La Femme Independent Film Festival, Paris and World Independent Cinema Awards (WICA) Los Angeles. Lamar Babi and Ismail won Outstanding Supporting Actor from WICA. Jamal Adams won Best Editor from Rome World Cinema. Last but not least, Pomegranate won All Categories for a Film Directed by a Woman at NY Int. Women Festival.
EK: In Niran, you have created a wonderful protagonist. In Sterling Heights, unlike Dearborn, her Muslim Iraqi family is a minority in a predominantly Christian neighborhood. The tension in the story is created by the friction between her dreams and the expectations of her rather conservative parents, as much as between the two Iraqi immigrant groups, Christian and Muslim. What made you choose her character as the heroine, and not someone from your own community? Is she based on someone you have known?
Originally in the story, Niran was on equal footing with Mary, her Christian neighbor. But script readers and story consultants felt that Niran had the more compelling story because she faced the greater challenges. I felt that, too, about her.
Niran is based on many women I know who feel they have to live in the shadow of their society…
Is she based on someone I know? Niran is based on many women I know who feel they have to live in the shadow of their society, who have difficulty finding their voice, being seen and heard. Admittedly, some of her story also mirrors my own, especially the part where Niran is inspired by Enheduanna, a Mesopotamian princess, priestess, and the first writer known by name in recorded history.
EK: Your film has won about two dozen awards so far. Any idea when and where it will be released? And if we’re not in the USA, where can we see it?
Correct, the film has so far won two dozen awards and has been chosen as a semi-finalist, official selection, and nominated in dozens more film festivals. The awards are from New York, California, New Orleans, and also from Italy, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, and India. Every day we receive news of additional wins, most recently from the Rome World Cinema Fest. Pomegranate will continue to tour festivals before its release on a streaming platform next year, 2024, interestingly at a perfect time. The story is set during the 2016 Trump vs. Clinton election. It’s like history re-surfacing for the release of the film. True synchronicity!
The hardest part is deciding how to spend your time, cutting out what does not serve you and incorporating what’s important in your life.
EK: Do you have more than 24 hours in a day? I’ve seen you multitasking, but how did — and do — you manage to be so incredibly productive as a writer and filmmaker, besides being active in your community, having a podcast, and more, all while raising a family?
Twenty-four hours is actually a lot of time. The hardest part is deciding how to spend your time, cutting out what does not serve you, and incorporating what’s important in your life. This did not come easy for me. I’ve spent decades creating a roadmap for my path, one that would include family, work, and service. One that would have me be at peace with what I came into this world to do. Prayer and meditation (and healthy doses of multitasking) helped me navigate societal pressures, familial responsibilities, and stacks of rejection.
I also want to mention that I’ve had teachers who helped me stay focused on my path, such as Lynn V. Andrews, a bestselling author and mystic. I met Lynn in 2011 through her book called Writing Spirit and ended up enrolling in her four-year Mystery School, where I found mentors and was introduced to ancient teachings that completely changed my life.
I learned how to “choreograph energy” and this gave a whole new meaning to how to perform tasks. Through the process, I also healed many wounds and traumas that I’d had from being born in an authoritarian, oppressive land and having come, at a young age, to a new land. These changes freed my creativity and gave me a lot of confidence. I began to rely more and more on my intuition and to believe in my capabilities rather than look outside of myself for approval. In doing so, I was able to make things I’d dreamed of become a reality.
EK: What creative project are you working on right now?
There are two projects I’m currently working on. One is a book about writing, since people almost daily ask me, “How do you do it?” The other is a feature documentary called Little Baghdad, which is based on my recent book with the same title.
EK: I can’t wait to see it, I have lovely memories of living there! I am so thankful for our friendship and I wish you loads more success in your upcoming projects!
(1) Enheduanna (ca. 2300–1800 BC) was a Sumerian princess who wrote hymns and poems in cuneiform. Her works have been preserved on clay tablets. She signed, claiming authorship, with lines like this: “I am Enheduanna, I am the high priestess. I carried the basket of offerings. I sang the hymns of joy.” (from The Exaltation of Inanna.)
(2) Source: Arab Americans in Metro Detroit: A Pictorial History (MI) by Anan Ameri and Yvonne Lockwood (2001): “Arab Americans have been an integral part of Detroit’s history since the 1880s. Early Arab immigrants worked as peddlers, grocers, and unskilled laborers, first settling downtown and later on the east side of Detroit. Their numbers increased after the First World War. They were attracted to the area by the booming automobile industry, and Ford’s $5 for an 8-hour work day.”
