Iraqi American Filmmaker
Production has begun on the feature film that is the brainchild of Weam Namou, an Iraqi American who lives in Sterling Heights. The movie, a ‘dramedy,’ is based on her novel, which was published in February of 2021.
It’s about a young, politically liberal Muslim refugee named Niran who moves from Iraq into a conservative Catholic Chaldean neighborhood in Michigan. Her family demands she retain her loyalty to Muslim traditions and fear the influence of Christianity and American values on her beliefs. According to the website, it’s about fear versus courage.
Inspired by her idol Enheduanna, the first recorded writer in history and famed priestess of Ancient Mesopotamia, Niran navigates societal challenges, fights against cultural stereotypes, and most of all, aims to make her voice heard by all around her.
Samya (“Sam”) Rahmani plays Niran. Rahmani was born in London to Iraqi parents and has been acting since age of 11. According to the movie’s website, her character “dreams of getting her driver’s license, going to college, getting a job, and becoming a modern-day journalist or poet, if she can only shake her mother’s strict Muslim traditions.”
It goes on to say, “Curvy in the right places, she prefers tight jeans and tops but wears the hijab to keep her mother from deporting her back to Iraq or marrying her off to an unknown suitor. Politically liberal, and easily irritated, she has trouble accepting the resettlement help of Mary, a neighbor who, although also from Iraq, is politically a conservative, a Christian, and well assimilated into American culture.”
Mary is played by Natally Boutros, a first-generation Chaldean American born and raised in Michigan. Another Chaldean starring in the movie is Lamar Babi, who was born in San Diego and raised in Detroit by his Catholic Iraqi parents. He plays a character named Matthew.
The novel is based on Namou’s own experiences as an Iraqi immigrant, coming to the United States as a child, and seeing democracy in action during the 2016 presidential election.
The title reflects the message that we are more alike than we think. “Due to their many seeds, pomegranates have diverse cultural-religious significance, as a symbol of life, fertility and even power,” said Namou. “A line from the novel says, ‘When the pomegranate seeds spill out, they unveil and uncover the beautiful sameness inside.”
‘Pomegranate’ is considered the first Iraqi American, female-led, independent feature film, and was selected as a quarterfinalist by Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope studio. Kevin Hewitt, who has done camera work on a 2014 Transformers movie as well as the 2016 Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice film, is the motion picture’s Director of Photography.
Scott Rosenfelt, the producer of “Home Alone,” and “Mystic Pizza,” is the executive producer and Namou is working with Buffalo 8 Productions out of Santa Monica, California to direct the movie. Shooting wrapped up on September 30.
Namou was born in Baghdad but raised in metro Detroit after her parents immigrated to the United States in February 1981. She is the Executive Director of the Chaldean Cultural Center, which houses the first and only Chaldean Museum in the world.
The award-winning author of 14 books, host of a weekly TV show, international award-winning filmmaker, journalist, poet, and Ambassador for the Authors Guild of America, Namou founded The Path of Consciousness, a spiritual and writing community, and Unique Voices in Films.