“Because they’re not used to someone engaging with them,” Khan said, “they also weren’t able to behave in the way that they are used to behaving – they know how to react to someone who comes in pointing fingers and shouting at them, ready for a fight.”
The two talked about everything. Life, family, and politics were all part of the conversation and Khan said that, as she’d hoped, her interviewee couldn’t hate her in person. She left that first meeting feeling liberated and wants to share what she found.
“It reminded me that they are just people, they are just human beings,” she said. “I have spent my entire life being stereotyped, I am not going to turn around and do that to somebody else.”
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“I found it to be liberating, because on a personal level—for me—I left that room… no longer being afraid.”
The Norwegian-born filmmaker, who now lives in the United Kingdom, recently earned an International Emmy award for her film, and has previously been nominated for BAFTA awards. Her film was picked up by Netflix in June and is available on the streaming service in the U.K. and the U.S.
In addition to being the mastermind behind her previous film, Jihad: A Story of the Others, Khan is also the founder of Fuuse, a media and arts company that focuses on minorities telling their own stories.
“I’m also interested in the human, emotional, psychological and social drivers of why people are drawn to these movements, in the hope that we can understand it better so we can be better at countering it.”
(WATCH the trailer below, and view the film on Netflix) – Photo by Peace News Network
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First Kudos to Miss Kahn! This reminds me of the episode of Star Trek when Kirk & crew go against the Romulans…and the similarities between the Captain and his foe are numerous…to the point the Enemy says to Kirk, in another life they could have been friends. Ah, but the dance of life we are thrown into makes it so difficult.