The Sheik and I

2012 "Lights, Camera, Fatwa!"

The Sheik and I

6.5 | 1h43m | en | Documentary

When an American filmmaker is commissioned to make a film for a Middle East Biennial on the theme of 'art as a subversive act,' his film is banned for blasphemy, he is asked to destroy every copy, and threatened with arrest.

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6.5 | 1h43m | en | Documentary | More Info

Released: December. 07,2012 | Released Producted By: Reinventing the Wheel , Country: Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://www.thesheikandi.com/

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Director

Colin Nusbaum

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Reinventing the Wheel ,

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Reviews

John Greenfield Seen so much about this movie being exploitative.It isn't. At least not with the information given. And Caveh gives a lot of self-deprecating personal information in relation to the film. While making it clear that if anyone explicitly asked for a scene they were in to be cut because they thought they were in danger then he would. No-one did. Going by the closing credits no-one got in trouble.This is unique. In a good way. Essential viewing for lovers of off-beat cinema. And know this: I greatly admire the director but had major moral problems with his "I don't hate Vegas anymore", so it's not like I'm blindly supporting the guy here.Check it out. The IMDb write-up is bunk. There's no fatwa threatened and Zahedi does not cheerfully set out to annoy the establishment in every way he can think of. Instead he's out for freedom of expression, which includes admitting his own possible faults, and getting the film made. When the Arab spring hits in tandem with the hypocrisy becoming apparent of the arts department who invited him over, he releases it anyway. As he makes clear, no-one in the film explicitly told him not to because of danger to themselves. And the main players mostly end up in a much better situation. There's no evidence on film of exploitation as I see it.See this. No-one knows about the country depicted. Which makes this so interesting. It's an honest, brave film that does (despite what people are saying) retain its integrity and furthermore entertains in a way no- one but Zahedi can.

cardiffhut How does an Iranian with an American citizenship convince his countrymen that he is no longer from the middle east but a true American? Well... the way Caveh Zahedi does that is by getting stoned, his tail tucked securely between his legs and using his three year old son as cover to film the stupidest script resulting from his piped dreams.All he managed to do was to put some innocent people's lives in jeopardy after safely scampering away safely back to the USA.To even call this moron an independent filmmaker is beyond sanity."When an American filmmaker is commissioned to make a film for a Middle East Biennial on the theme of 'art as a subversive act,' his film is banned for blasphemy, he is asked to destroy every copy, and he is threatened with arrest" penned by Caveh Zahedi himself, is nothing but a figment of his doped-out, paranoid imagination.Don't waste a second of your life on this one, easily the worst "documentary" of the century.