As part of CAAM’s initiative to support independent documentary films about Muslim experiences in the United States, in partnership with the Doris Duke Foundation, we’re excited to welcome Leila Abu-saada to the CAAM team as our Building Bridges Documentary Fund Manager. Read on to get to know Leila and her insights about telling the stories of U.S. Muslims.
– Grace Hwang Lynch
Grace Hwang Lynch: How did you get started in filmmaking?
Leila Abu-saada: I started as a deputy news editor at Al Jazeera English in Doha, Qatar. I never aspired to work in hard news or in a newsroom but I graduated journalism school right at the economic downturn and Al Jazeera was a saving grace. The newsroom was one of the best educations for me. It was rough, but it built my resolve, confidence and I learned how to work in a team, prioritize story, and learned that asking questions is a strength. I also believe greatly in shine theory; If we lift your colleagues up you rise together, which isn’t as popular in a competitive newsroom frankly. But I take the aspect of community building in every space I work because filmmaking is a team sport.
I left the newsroom and started working on longform series that needed journalists who had strong investigative, interview and producing skills (right around when VICE and the hybrid style of long form docustyle reporting was starting to blossom on streamers). My field producing skills grew, and then I slowly began transitioning into independent film because I wanted creative autonomy. I will say having navigated all these different styles of storytelling has greatly shaped my relationship with time which has changed again and again and again. Independent filmmaking is slower and right now, I like what creatively comes out of having more time.
GHL: As a Libyan American, you’ve also studied and worked in England and Qatar. Can you speak to the uniqueness of telling stories about Muslims in the United States that is different than it would be in other parts of the world?
LA: In the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region Muslim stories aren’t an offshoot or “other”, they just “are”. I feel as if in the U.S. Muslim stories are only welcome if they are defending Islam and that’s exhausting. I find stories that center subjects who do the quotidian who just happen to be Muslim the most inspiring and refreshing; it’s like a film is opening a window and letting the breeze in.
GHL: How do you know when a new film excites you or strikes you as something that is necessary in the world?
LA: I gravitate toward films that are a bit quirky and by that I mean confidently unique in their visual approach, storyline, and subject matter. I like films that create exposition on a political or cultural topic but through a more abstract usage of visual techniques.
GHL: How do you hope your work with the Building Bridges Documentary Fund will improve the representation of Muslim American experiences?
LA: I hope this fund provides further agency for filmmakers that center U.S. Muslim community in their films, and that CAAM becomes another link in the chain that makes Muslim stories and storytellers exposed, their films distributed, and their careers lifted.
GHL: What’s one of your favorite MENASA (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) focused films?
LA: Nefta Football Club. It’s a narrative short film but encompasses everything I love about cinema.
GHL: And finally, we like to eat here at CAAM! What’s your favorite movie-watching snack?
LA: The herb popcorn from Trader Joes everytime!
Read more about the Building Bridges Documentary Fund, generously supported by the Doris Duke Foundation.