the file originaly submited by mischka @ FTI forum so all thanks goes to him

“It’s a very common name in the Middle East and here. But now it’s evil.”- Osama Shalabi (composer)

“Some people ask if I was named after Osama Bin Laden. But I’m 24, where was he then?”—Osama Dorias (political science student)

Through a series of intimate portraits, Being Osama opens a window onto the lives and experiences of six Montrealers who have one thing in common. They all have the same first name as Osama bin Laden. Each Osama has a very different personality, background and interests, but the fact that they share a name that has become so notorious has made each keenly aware of the ethnic profiling and backlash against the Arab-Canadian community in the post 9/11 world.

Shot against the cultural backdrop of Montreal, first time filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour and his co-director Tim Schwab followed the six subjects for more than a year, from the launching of the American invasion of Iraq in March, 2003 to the anti-WTO demonstrations in late July of that year, and through the ongoing conflict in Iraq. Being Osama offers a look at the evolving lives of each subject:

* Osama (Sam) Shalabi, of Egyptian origin, is a music composer who grew up in Atlantic Canada. He composed the soundtrack for Being Osama. Palestinian-Canadian Ossama Al-Sarraf wears dreadlocks and is an aspiring rockstar.

* “My name was stolen from me…” states Ossama el-Naggar, an Egyptian-Canadian, who’s lived in Canada for over 20 years and is an opera expert and importer of classical music CDs.

* Osama El-Demerdash, another Egyptian, is very politically active regarding issues surounding immigrant rights and deportation of refugees.

* Lebanese-Canadian Oussama al-Jundi runs a Muslim school in Montreal.

* Osama Dorias is an Iraqi-Canadian and devout Muslim whose family fled Saddam Hussein's regime while he will still a young child. His father has recently returned to Iraq.

Being Osama won “Best Doc” at the University Film and Video Conference andis produced by Ari A. Cohen and Evan Beloff; directed by Mahmoud Kaabour and Timothy Schwab for Diversus Productions in association with CBC/SRC .

AVI File Details

========================================

Name.........: Passionate Eye - Being Osama.avi

Filesize.....: 220 MB (or 225,374 KB or 230,783,488 bytes)

Runtime......: 00:44:25 (79,870 fr)

Video Codec..: DivX 5.0

Video Bitrate: 605 kb/s

Audio Codec..: 0x0055(MP3) ID'd as MPEG-1 Layer 3

Audio Bitrate: 80 kb/s (40/ch, stereo) CBR

Frame Size...: 480x320 (1.50:1)

Language.....: English

tv cap, has watermark most of the time

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