Open Call: Pitch Reels

The Pitch:

Meet Rashida Tlaib. Rashida lives in one of the largest Arab-American communities in the United States, just outside of Detroit. An activist, a wife, a Muslim, a mother, and now, an aspiring politician, Rashida’s race to become a Michigan State Representative signals a changing of the proverbial guard in our nation’s electoral politics. An upstart with a progressive agenda, she offers a fresh voice that helps reverse the trend of entrenched politicians and shows how Muslim-Americans are engaged actors on our political stage.

We’re fed up with seeing the same recycled images of Muslim women in the mainstream media, images that repeatedly depict women as passive and helpless. Our three-minute short will break out of this tired paradigm and show a Muslim woman who has a passion for politics and a conviction to change her world. For years, Rashida has been on the front lines safeguarding voters’ rights in her community. Now, she has stepped into an arena that will give her an incredible opportunity to fight for equality in the state she calls home.

The oldest of 14 children and the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, Rashida earned her law degree while working full-time and helping take care of her younger siblings. At only 32, she has become an agent for change in her community. This short film would give a snapshot of Rashida as she makes the leap from passionate activist to ardent politico.

In the last eight years, we’ve seen how mistrust of our political leaders, the quagmire of the Iraq War and doubts about our nation’s voting system have ratcheted up Americans’ investment in the democratic process. Rashida represents this new wave of young, inspired Americans who won’t settle for the status quo. In 2006, Minnesota elected the first Muslim man, Keith Ellison, to U.S. Congress. Will Rashida be the first Muslim woman to hold office on American soil?

In 2004, Rashida worked tirelessly to get out the vote in her predominantly Muslim community. As part of Arts Engine’s feature-length documentary ELECTION DAY, we followed Rashida’s efforts to turn out the vote. She escorted her husband, Fayez, a naturalized U.S. citizen who works in the automotive industry, as he votes for the first time in 2004. She also registered five of her brothers to vote and ensured they cast their first ballots.

We plan to use the footage of Rashida that was not in ELECTION DAY to show briefly her history of being politically active. Then, we would travel to Dearborn this month to shoot with Rashida as she kickstarts her campaign. At this time, we would interview her about why she decided to run for office and on her views on why it’s important for Muslim Americans to be politically active in the U.S.

The clip we’ve included are scenes from the film ELECTION DAY that feature Rashida. These scenes would not appear in the three-minute short.