Detroit Unleaded
Nashef, Rola
dir. 2007, U.S., 20’. Free with newsletter signup
A young man named Sami believes his family’s Detroit gas station will provide him with a place to meet his girl, Naj, away from family pressures and friends. His cousin Mike is sure it holds the key to an empire built on cigarette papers and fake perfume. This gritty, daylong view of a neighborhood convenience store probes relationships between its Arab–American owners and their African–American customers by exploring themes of race, economics, friendship and love through the identities and encounters that shape the Arab–American and immigrant experience.
You may also be interested in...
The Vanishing Sea by Artist Dinara Mirtalipova—Our Book Review
How often do we take nature for granted, assuming it will never vanish? In US-based folk illustrator Dinara Mirtalipova’s new children’s book, a sea is the main character: the one that provides livelihood and prosperity, until humans’ poor choices cause its demise.
Nuha Alshaar’s Essay Compilation Muslim Sicily—Our Book Review
What emerges from this volume by Nuha Alshaar, a professor of Arabic literature and Islamic studies, is a rounded picture of Sicily as a site of cultural exchange that shaped the medieval Mediterranean.