Filmmaker Statement

This film was created as a joint project between myself, Nate Robards, and Peter Nichols while studying in our final year at the University of Notre Dame. We traveled to Austin, TX in October 2021 to film the Ismailzai family over the course of five days, following the Ismailzai children to school and Mr. Ismailzai as he went about his day. The goal of the film is to shed light on a global geopolitical issue in refugees that is often misunderstood and devalued by the media. We strove to not get overly political in our message, but rather to present the Ismailzai family in the most honest, genuine way possible through cinema verité and contrast their identity with that of refugees depicted in the news. We hope that seeing the film will cause Americans to empathize with a group of people that is often alienated by the general public and better understand the struggles that refugees face when they first arrive to America. Thank you so much for considering our film for Short of the Week.