Young Aspiring Filmmaker Hopes To Combine a Passion For Documentaries and Heritage
Samy Abdelkader hopes his upcoming documentary will shed light on his culture.
Samy Abdelkader may live in Hasbrouck Heights but his heart belongs in Paterson. When he walks down Main Street, the sights and smells of the Arab community remind him of his family’s legacy back in Egypt.
“I’m definitely more tied to my culture than anything else and I get more exposure to my culture and my people when I’m around them,” Abdelkader said. “I don’t have any family in the U.S. at all so [Paterson] is like my second home.”
The recent influx of Arab immigrants is what makes Abdelkader feel so at home and he decided to highlight the lives of these immigrants in a documentary. His documentary shows how the Arab immigrants have impacted the community of Paterson in a positive way.
“I’m hyperfocusing on how they as a community band together and do good and that they do have a place in this country,” Abdelkader said.
He was presented this opportunity as a senior internship in his high school and was put under the direction of Emmy award-winning professor Steve McCarthy. From there they came up with this idea and are in the process of starting production.
“There’s a lot of planning that goes into it,” Abdelkader said. “You want to choose something that you’re passionate about because you don’t want to focus on a topic you don’t care about.”
Abdelkader wanted to focus on a topic personal to him and use his passion for creativity.
This goal of his has lingered since childhood.
“I suppose that I got inspiration from my grandfather. He was an interior designer so [art] was something instilled in me from a young age,” Abdelkader said.
Abdelkader followed art his whole life. Starting with drawing, he progressed into making videos using Videostar and dabbling in music production.
“My mom ran a home daycare business and to pass the time, some of the kids and I would make little videos on my iPad,” Abdelkader said.
He used his platform to create stories from a young age and realized that telling stories was his passion.
“I felt like creating videos gave me a head start on other kids my age and helped me learn the skills I needed much quicker.” he said.
Now he is using those skills to continue his passion, and is pursuing his purpose by entering the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University this fall.
