If You See Something

Ten years ago, I left my hometown in Baghdad, Iraq, and settled in New York City as an immigrant. During this time, I went through different levels of acceptance and rejection, producing an extreme admiration for the individuals who welcomed me and a strong sense of sympathy understanding for those who ostracized me. From these observations, I am attracted to how immigrants impact others: How does the latter think and feel, what are their limits of acceptance, and what are their reasons for rejection of the unknown? I believe that this is the right time to address this emotive topic, not only from the immigrant’s perspective, but also from the Americans who are impacted by immigrants ’ past. On a human, political, economical, and social level, what we live today is an ultimate struggle between rejection and acceptance.

Having said that, I hope that If You See Something will provide a medium to communicate this compelling human connectivity with all perspectives, that of the immigrant along with that of the Americans. Ali holds weight in our film as an immigrant with both reverence and judgement for America, as I have, and with a specific and deep desire to build a home in the U.S., both because he belongs and because he’s in love, as I do, and am. Maybe those feelings are the same. Katie will also carry the narrative in ‘If You See Something’ because of her strength and resilience in resisting the main conflicting social constructions found in her environment; she creates her own direction because she sees something the others can’t see; this is the ultimate acceptance of the unknown. In order to achieve this tone, I hope to have limited interference from everything behind the camera and to focus heavily on my actors. To get closer to my actors, my favorite element in production, I’m preparing for continuous shots to capture the emotional and psychological state of every moment for the actor and environment around them, all while controlling the pace of the narrative. If You See Something is a dialogue driven drama and our writers set a great foundation for this dialogue. However, I strongly believe the dialogue will belong to the actor, the moment of truth when they open their mouths. Additionally, If You See Something takes place in NYC, a vertical city, which I feel the need to work against. Currently, two of our main locations are a physical art gallery and a metaphorical one, the streets of New York. Filming the scenes and the moments within the art gallery should secretly mirror the intimacy of filming the scenes and the moments in the streets of NYC. All together, these elements will create a dramatic narrative which will communicate a beautiful, unique and timely story about love and the importance of faith in a society plagued by judgement and unforgiving views.