Benim (2019)

The film tells interlocking stories of a Muslim man and a native New Yorker, Islamophobia and white privilege, defined by a lens of bias. All are victims of it, many are perpetrators of it, and one is revealed as a hero in the overcoming of it. While ritual sets the pace, our characters break the rules and are often left doing and saying the exact opposite of what they mean. The result is a dynamic story wherein rhythm is savored over dialogue and visuals peel back the truth of reckoning and abandonment. We are present in moments painfully intimate as we endure the discomfort necessary to approach those on the other side of religious and cultural boarders with compassion. Collectively we face either a united healing, or a fatal and irreparable segregation.