by ANGE-AIMEE WOODS

Filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour used to work at a downtown video store. A few weeks after 9/11 the owner not so jokingly accused him of wanting to blow up his store. "I used to bleach my hair blond, and the owner said, ‘You bleach your hair because you are running from justice,'" recalls Kaabour. Then it struck Kaabour: What would life be like if his name happened to be Osama?

An odd question, indeed, but the curiosity it set off set the 25-year-old Concordia University film graduate to work. He circulated e-mails and put ads in local papers that read, "If anyone knows an Osama, if your name is Osama, please contact me."

"Initially, no Osama got in touch with me, it was always a girlfriend or brother outing them," says Kaabour. "I felt like the film was going to fall apart. They were reluctant and afraid because the idea sounds so much like a reality show, everyone called Osama, everyone is short, an Average Joe sort of thing."

Seizing on stereotypes

But Being Osama, the documentary that came out of Kaabour's investigation, is far from the latest Fox reality show. Osama is just a hook, a reference to all the negative stereotypes attributed to Arab people. The film depicts the diversity of Arabs and Arab cultures as well as the contradictions with the stereotypes.

Being Osama examines the lives of six Montrealers named Osama. Local musician Osama (Sam) Shalabi composed the soundtrack. "What's interesting about Sam is that he came to Canada at age three and he has this strong Arab culture coming through him in his music," says Kaabour.

Originally from the Maritimes, born of an Egyptian family, Shalabi is a well-respected yet soft-spoken artist. "He was not going to allow me to portray him like I portrayed the other Osamas, so to escape that we decided to film the process of composing the soundtrack," explains Kaabour.

The result is a soundtrack that manages to weave the various Osama stories together. Shalabi is shown copying part of the soundtrack onto a CD and passing it on to Palestinian-Canadian Ossama Al-Sarraf, a dreadlocked DJ and aspiring rock star. Al-Sarraf in turn is seen producing some Arabic techno. "Since being involved in the film I always use the name Ossama now," says Al-Sarraf, who reports that the experience of working on the film brought him closer to his roots.

Ossama El-Naggar, an Egyptian-Canadian who is an opera expert and importer of classical music CDs, also insists on using the name Ossama. "My name is Ossama; you suppress an important part of yourself if you take on a new name to fit in, it's not healthy to be apologetic and self-effacing," he says. That being said, El-Naggar says he feels he has fully integrated himself into Quebec society.

Trials and tribulations

However, his involvement in the film was eye opening. "It was nice to see the other Osamas and to meet people whose experience has not been as smooth as mine," he says. El-Naggar is referring to experiences like that of Osama El-Demerdash, whose colleagues tried to get him fired from his job as a computer consultant. The politically active Egyptian-Canadian also claims to have had run-ins with the Quebec justice system, saying he was arrested for protesting at an anti-police violence demonstration. "At my first hearing, the judge opened with, ‘Osama, un nom illustre' (Osama, an infamous name) - not the first thing you want to hear in court," recalls El-Demerdash.

But Being Osama does not dwell on these horror stories. Kaabour and his co-director Tim Schwab set out to make a serio-comic documentary with an authentic voice. "We didn't want to be on the outside looking in," says Schwab.

Ari Cohen and Evan Beloff of Diversus Productions produced the film. Both are of Jewish descent and are known for producing off-kilter projects, such as Schmelvis: Searching for the King's Jewish Roots and Too Colourful for the League: A History of Blacks in Hockey.

"There were challenges," says Beloff. "We are dealing with issues that are polarizing and where you bring a level of your own bias."

"We had our clashes," adds Kaabour. "But the fact that we got the film together and we are still on good terms is a wonderful thing and we hope that people will be inspired by this."

Being Osama premieres Monday, May 31, at 7pm and 8:30pm at Concordia's Hall Building. The filmmakers and
participants will be present

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