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This Being Human | إنسانية

A portrait of a young Iraqi who left everything behind at 15, in a solo quest for a more peaceable future; Hameed’s salvation is education in the US bound by a big altruistic dream.

  • Aimie Vallat
    Director
    Little Rebel, Present Moment
  • Guido Ronge
    Director
    Little Rebel
  • Aimie Vallat
    Writer
    Little Rebel, Present Moment
  • Guido Ronge
    Writer
    Little Rebel
  • Eric Frith
    Writer
  • Aimie Vallat
    Producer
    Little Rebel, Present Moment
  • Leah Andrews
    Editor
  • Eric Frith
    Editor
  • Miles Lippold
    Graphic Artist
  • Jason Staczek
    Music composition
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    إنسانية
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 58 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 25, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Iraq, Turkey, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Rainier Independent Film Festival
    Ashford
    United States
    May 19, 2019
    World
    WINNER Best Short Documentary & Official Selection
  • Friday Harbor Film Festival
    Friday Harbor
    United States
    October 27, 2019
    WINNER AUDIENCE CHOICE FAVORITE SHORT FILM
  • Global Impact Film Festival
    Washington DC
    United States
    August 23, 2019
    Washington DC
    NOMINATED FOR BEST DIRECTOR OF CINEMATOGRAPHY
  • NW Film Forum | The Feeling of Being Watched event(s)
    Seattle
    United States
    May 17, 2019
    Seattle
  • Port Townsend Film Festival
    Port Townsend
    United States
    September 21, 2019
  • Walla Walla Movie Crush
    Walla Walla
    July 13, 2019
    HONORABLE MENTION
  • Tacoma Film Festival
    Tacoma Film Festival
    United States
    October 3, 2019
  • Local SIghtings Film Festival
    Seattle
    United States
    September 22, 2019
  • United Nations Association Film Festival
    Standford
    United States
    October 20, 2019
    California
  • Cinque Terra Film Festival
    Riomaggiore
    Italy
    April 7, 2020
    Italy
  • Gig Harbor Film Festival
    Gig Harbor
    United States
    September 29, 2019
    Audience Choice Winner
  • Awareness Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    October 3, 2019
    California
  • Docs Without Borders Film Festival
    Nassau
    United States
    March 8, 2020
    Delaware
  • Respect Belfast Human Rights Film Festival
    Belfast
    Ireland
    October 6, 2019
    Ireland
  • Refugees Welcome Film Festival
    Berlin
    Germany
    October 25, 2019
    Germany
    Nominated
  • The Hague Global Cinema Festival
    The Hague
    Netherlands
    November 15, 2019
    Netherlands
  • Deep Focus Film Festival
    Brooklyn
    United States
    Finalist
  • Ellensburg Film Festival
    Ellensburg
    United States
    October 8, 2019
  • North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival
    Fargo
    United States
    November 7, 2019
    North Dakota
  • Burien Film Festival
    Burien
    United States
  • Ethnografilm Paris
    Paris
    France
    April 13, 2021
    France
  • Durango Independent Film Festival
    Durango
    United States
    March 4, 2020
    Colorado
  • Global Cinema Film Festival of Boston
    Boston
    United States
    March 20, 2020
    Massachusetts
  • WestSound Film Festival
    Bremerton
    United States
    January 29, 2021
Distribution Information
  • EVRGRN streaming channel
    Distributor
    Country: United States
    Rights: Free TV
Director Biography - Aimie Vallat, Guido Ronge

AIMIE VALLAT | Producer & Co-Director
For the past twenty years, I have worked as a social change agent in the non-profit and documentary film sectors. I’ve always been fascinated about how the human experience shows both our uniqueness and common ground. My interest in storytelling has taken me around the world; from the townships in South Africa, to a youth theater troupe in Serbia and interviewing Holocaust survivors in Poland.
Building on my bachelors degree in Visual Anthropology from Fairhaven College and a Masters in Communication from Antioch University, I created REEL WITNESS with Noah Dassel. Together we developed stories about sustainability, food security and our refugee community. We debuted our first documentary in 2015 with Present Moment, and Little Rebel was our first collaboration with Guido Ronge. ‘This Being Human’ was released in 2019.

GUIDO RONGE | DP & Co-Director
I was born in Southern Germany and developed a love of travel at a very early age. I relocated to the US in 1995 and began my career as a filmmaker starting as a camera technician, camera assistant and then transitioned to working as a Director of Photography. I have had the good fortune of working on a range of productions world wide including; corporate and feature films, commercials and documentaries. 
Expanding on my desire to travel the world, I began focusing on  cross-cultural work opportunities,  like the collaboration with Soulcraft Allstars and EPIC. Seven years ago we started working on a long term documentary exploring the intersection of the local communities in southern Haiti and an endangered bird population, the Black Capped Petrel (Diablotin in Creole), in a film called ‘Save the Devil’. 
Closer to home, I have been excited to team up with Reel Witness to shoot and co-direct a series of films on the refugee / asylum experience. This Being Human is our second collaboration.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Shortly after the US presidential election in 2016, the first Travel Ban was issued and barred individuals from entering the US from seven predominantly Muslim countries as well as banning any refugee trying to seek asylum. Upon hearing this news we were devastated, and then outraged that this could happen. We had always considered the US welcoming to those of diverse cultures, faith and identity. And with one of us an immigrant, we also felt this was unreal as well as unjust.

We decided as a team of filmmakers to highlight the story of a refugee in our Seattle community and in so doing, transformed our outrage into activism. We created our first short film, Little Rebel, to celebrate the achievements and fortitude of an exceptional woman from The Gambia, Isatou Jallow. Isatou is everything we want for a hopeful American; she is strong, brilliant, full of courage and also happens to be Muslim. Isatou has overcome tremendous odds to now be a PHD student in Law with a focus on access to education for the disabled in The Gambia. Little Rebel went on to screen at 30 film festivals around the world, earning 4 awards, and played at multiple community events throughout the country as well as used by academic institutions, non profit organizations and in The Gambia to help push through their first Disability Act.

Following the success of Little Rebel, and in light of the US’s continued political climate of intolerance, Reel Witness created our current film, This Being Human. This short documentary also explores the life of a young refugee who left everything behind in war torn Iraq at age 15 in a solo quest for a brighter more peaceable future. Now 22, Hameed’s salvation is also scholarship in Seattle bound by a big altruistic dream.

We at Reel Witness are committed to creating personal tales of resilience and humanizing the facelessness of emigration in these politically polarizing times, not just in the US but around the world. Like Little Rebel, these films have been made pro-bono and will again be gifted to any non-profit organization, church, mosque or institution passionate about creating dialogue around the refugee experience and building more tolerance to all those around us who help shape and create our global diverse community.