Indiegogo campaign launched to support outreach and complete classroom version!

Indiegogo campaign launched to support outreach and complete classroom version!

Enemy Alien was completed as an 81-minute feature documentary in 2011, and has been screening at festivals and community organizations across North America. In its first six months of educational distribution, the film was acquired by ten universities.


But the film’s impact has been greatest in the educational and community outreach screenings that have brought together students, Asian American, Arab and Muslim community organizations, legal students and practitioners, and activists.
Much has been accomplished with this film to engage audiences and communities, but more is possible, with your help.
This campaign’s chief goal is to make Enemy Alien fully available for community and educational use, and to continue the work of Life or Liberty in bringing stories of resistance to wartime incarceration to light.
Funding is needed to pay for:

• Educational and community outreach in the next year
• Editing of a 60-minute classroom version
• Vital equipment upgrades for Life or Liberty postproduction suite
• First stage of research for the Tule Lake Project

Engagement with audiences has been especially keen in community and classroom settings where I can be present for discussion to share what I’ve learned making the film and studying the pertinent issues. Many deserving venues have only limited funding to support travel and outreach expenses.
For classroom use, documentaries need to be 60 minutes or less to allow time for viewing and discussion. Funding is also needed for producing a study guide for for educational use.
In April, the aging edit suite on which Enemy Alien was completed broke down. Thus, support is urgently needed for equipment and software to complete the educational version and continue on to Life or Liberty’s Tule Lake project.
Your contribution brings you into the ever-expanding circle of people and organizations who have supported this film on its challenging journey to completion, which began when Farouk was in prison and the outcome of his struggle was in doubt.
Thank you gifts include:

• Full-color prints of the photos my grandfather took in Topaz incarceration camp
• DVDs and downloads of Enemy Alien and other Life or Liberty projects
• Your name honored as a Sponsor of the educational version
• amusing and disturbing Homeland Security documents from Farouk’s case

When all looked darkest in Farouk’s struggle, I found inspiration learning about my grandmother’s resilience and seeing, for the first time, the stunning photographs my grandfather took of camp life, despite the War Relocation Authority’s ban on photography.
Though many reading this may have learned something about the World War Two incarceration of Japanese Americans, this university student’s testimonial shows how important Enemy Alien is in making this history and its lessons for today known:
“I was unaware of the injustices shown to Japanese Americans during WWII. …. I had heard all the propaganda about terrorism and the (Arab American) business owners (sending) their money home to make bombs to kill Americans. I am embarrassed to say how ignorant I was but it is the truth. …Enemy Alien affected me deeply and made me revisit some of my preconceived notions and beliefs. I have shown the video to a number of my friends who were also unaware of the injustices shown Japanese Americans. “
The film has enjoyed recognition from filmgoing audiences as well, including the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, the Maysles Film Center in NYC, and DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon, where the film received a Jason D. Mak Social Justice Award. This year I was also honored to accept, on behalf of Farouk, a Courage Award from the Pacific Asian Community Alliance.
Farouk was driven by a profound conviction of solidarity, always connecting the struggles of the wide range of communities he moved among to form grassroots alliances. The story of his ultimate struggle against state violence continues to fulfill his life purpose through this documentary. Your support will insure that Enemy Alien can reach and fully engage its audience.
Please give what you can, follow Enemy Alien on social media, and spread the word about this campaign!
For online contributions we are fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas, so your contribution is tax-deductible. Because this campaign is run on flexible funding, your contribution will help the project even if the goal is not reached.