USA vs Al-Arian (USA mot Al-Arian)

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USA vs Al-Arian
Original title	USA mot Al-Arian
Type	Documentaries
Director	Line Halvorsen
Short summary	USA vs AL-ARIAN is a close portrait of an Arab-American family facing terrorism charges levelled by the U.S. Government.
Summary	USA vs AL-ARIAN is a close portrait of an Arab-American family facing terrorism charges levelled by the U.S. Government. The film shows a personal story of a family living in a society where fear of terrorism has resulted in increasing stigmatization and discrimination against Muslims. For years, Nahla Al-Arian and her children have been fighting to prove the innocence of husband and father Sami, a Palestinian refugee, university professor and civil rights activist, who has lived in the USA for more than thirty years. In 2003, Sami Al-Arian was accused of giving material support to a terrorist organization and held in solitary confinement for over three years. His six-month trial ended without a single guilty verdict. The failure to convict Dr. Al-Arian was seen as a stinging rebuke for the federal government. While the Bush administration considered this a landmark case in its campaign against international terrorism, Sami Al-Arian claims he has been targeted in an attempt to silence his political views. Because the jury hung on some of the counts, however, Dr. Al-Arian remained in jail as the prosecution threatened to retry him. In May 2006 he agreed to a plea bargain with the US Government in order to put an end to the ordeal and to be reunited with his family. A federal judge sentenced him to 57 months in prison and subsequent deportation, and his family is now searching for a country that will accept him, a stateless Palestinian, upon his release from prison. The case of Sami Al-Arian is one of the first major tests of the USA PATRIOT ACT, a controversial law passed hastily after September 11, 2001.
Screenplay	Line Halvorsen
D.O.P	Tone Andersen
Editor	Trond Winterkjær, Line Halvorsen
Composer	Stein Berge Svendsen
Sound	Erling Rein
Producer	Jan Dalchow
Production company	Dalchows Verden \| Møllergata 28 \| N-0179 Oslo
Country of origin	Norway
Release date (national)	2007-01-19
Technical information
Format	35mm
Screen ratio	1:1,85
Colour	Colour
Sound System	Dolby SRD
Length in min's	99
No. of reels	5
International sales	Kudos Family \| www.kudosfamily.com mail (at) kudosfamily.com
Distributor (Norway only)	Exposed Film as
Festival participation	2007 Tromsø International Film Festival 2007 New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival, USA 2007 Norwegian Documentary Film Festival Volda 2007 HotDocs, Toronto, Canada 2007 Norwegian Short Film Festival Grimstad 2007 LabourFest, San Francisco 2007 Intl Festival of Muslim Cinema "Golden Minbar", Russia 2007 Human Rights Film Festival Novi Sad, Serbia 2007 Nordisk Panorama, Oulu 2007 Vivisect Human Rights festval, Novi Sad, Serbia 2007 Boston Palestine Film Festival, USA 2007 DOCNZ. New Zealand 2007 Cinemambiente, Torino, Italy 2007 Cinema Vèritè, Iran Int'l Documentary Festival, Theran 2007 Document 5- International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Scotland 2007 Arab Film Festival - San Francisco 2007 Århus Film Festival, Denmark 2007 United Nations Association Film Festival, Stanford, USA 2007 Femmina Int. Filmfestival, Verdal 2007 Arab Film Festival - Los Angeles 2007 Festival of Liberties, Brüssel, Belgium 2007 CPH.DOX, København, Denmark 2007 Festival del Popoli, Firenze, Italia 2007 Dubai Int. Film Festival, United Arab Emirates 2008 DocsBarcelona, Spain 2008 Middle East Film Festival, Olympia, USA 2008 Tempo Documentary Festival, Sweden 2008 Amnesty Int'l Film Festival, The Netherlands 2008 Belfast Film Festival 2008 Al Jazeera Int'l Documentary Film Festival, Qatar 2008 Chicago Palestine Film Festival, USA 2008 Tekfestival, Rome, Italy 2008 Human Rights Watch Int. Film Festival, New York, USA 2008 Reykjavik Short & Docs, Iceland 2008 Nordox, Beijing 2008 Toronto Palestine Film Festival, Canada 2008 Melbourne Human Rights Art&Film Festival, Australia
Prizes received	2007 Tromsø International Film Festival: Audience Award 2007 New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival, USA: Best Film 2007 Norwegian Documentary Film Festival Volda: Grand Prix (Flugeprisen) 2007 Intl Festival of Muslim Cinema "Golden Minbar", Russia: Honorary Mention 2007 Nordisk Panorama - 5 Cities Film Festival: Best Nordic Documentary
URL	http://www.dalchowsverden.no

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Director biography:
Director Line Halvorsen Line Halvorsen was educated at the University of Trondheim and Documentary Department at the Volda University College.

Filmograhpy:
2006: UAS vs Al-Arian
A Stone's Throw Away (2003)
Orphan Voices (2002)
Horsebacking Australia (2000)
Behind the Scenes 71° North (2000)