Salam Shalom

Salam Shalom follows Hazel Selzer Kahan, born in Lahore (Pakistan) to Jewish physicians who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Now 85 and living in the U.S., Hazel turns to her past to preserve a story of refuge, survival, and cross-cultural connection while confronting the complex layers of her own identity.

  • Hina Ali
    Director
    Preconceived, Among the Believers, InshaAllah Democracy
  • Hina Ali
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    30 minutes
  • Country of Origin:
    United States, United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, United States
  • Language:
    English, Urdu
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Hina Ali

Hina Ali’s previous editing and producing credits include the Emmy-nominated feature documentary Among the Believers (Tribeca 2015, PBS), Unladylike2020: The Changemakers (PBS), and Insha’Allah Democracy (DOC NYC Fest 2017, Amazon Prime).

Ali has edited and produced films and shows for PBS, BBC, Vice, Discovery+, Amazon Prime, Starz, Hulu, Cheddar, Magnolia Network, Dawn News, and Aaj News. Her films have been screened at over fifty film festivals in over thirty countries. This includes IDFA, Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, CPH:DOX, Documentary Edge Festival, and Vancouver International Film Festival.

She has served as a juror for the Emmys and IDA Awards.

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Director Statement

I am a thirty-eight-year-old Pakistani documentary filmmaker living in Brooklyn. Standing at a mere five feet tall, I may be small, but I refuse to be insignificant. Whether it is my immigration status, my identity as a modern Muslim woman, or my choosing to live 8,000 miles away from my family, I often find myself making difficult choices to stay true to who I am and what I believe. This internal struggle is the essence of my films. I contrast individual stories of love, vulnerability, and resilience with global events, faceless bureaucracies, and the unforgiving identities we are forced to carry in the name of our faiths, races, and nationalities.