Pomegranate

In the weeks before the election of Donald Trump in 2016, a young, politically liberal, Iraqi, Muslim immigrant struggles to find her footing in a neighborhood of well-to-do, politically conservative, Iraqi, Christians while battling her family’s fears of deprivation and demands of loyalty to Muslim traditions.

  • Weam Namou
    Director
    The Great American Family
  • Weam Namou
    Writer
    The Great American Family
  • Sam Sako
    Producer
  • Sam Rahmani
    Key Cast
    "Niran"
    Motherland: Fort Salem
  • Zain Shami
    Key Cast
    "Hassina"
    Brothers
  • Natally Boutros
    Key Cast
    "Mary"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 58 minutes 47 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 29, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    HD Cam
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Weam Namou

Weam Namou is an Eric Hoffer award-winning author of 15 books, an international award-winning filmmaker, journalist, poet, and the executive director of the Chaldean Cultural Center. She hosts a weekly half-hour TV show on CMNtv.

Weam’s book, The Great American Family, won an Eric Hoffer Book Award and her feature documentary with the same title earned several international film awards. Her feature script Pomegranate was selected quarter-finalist by Francis Coppola’s Zoetrope, after which she produced and directed it. Currently it’s being submitted to film festivals.

She's the founder of The Path of Consciousness, a spiritual and writing community, and Unique Voices in Films, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. Her essays, articles, and poetry have been published by national and international publications. A keynote speaker, she has given readings, lectures, and workshops at numerous cultural and educational institutions. In 2012, Erootha, a local arts organization, honored her with an Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in communications from Wayne State University, Weam traveled the world as she studied fiction and memoir through various correspondence courses, poetry in Prague through the University of New Orleans, and screenwriting at MPI (Motion Picture Institute of Michigan).

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Director Statement

This is the first Iraqi American narrative feature film, and led by women talent, specifically a female writer/director and female leading cast. The characters are played by the community being portrayed (the Muslim family in the story is Muslim in real life and the Chaldean (Christian) family in the story is Chaldean in real life). I feel very proud to have pushed through the time-consuming and challenging process to the finish line.