Jessica Birthisel | Feb. 11, 2011
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| Photo by Sevil Mahfoozi |
| Graduate student Ahmed Hamada talked about the inspiration for his documentary, Coming Up for Air, before a screening Wednesday night. |
Hamada produced a shorter version of the project for assistant professor Lesa Hatley Major’s J502 Quantitative Research Methods for Journalists course last fall, then expanded it to the 10-minute version presented Wednesday.
Hamada, originally from Kuwait, said he’s traveled to many cities, but from the first time he stepped foot in New Orleans, he knew there was something special about the place.
“New Orleans, I think, is a survival story of its own, how it keeps emerging from…challenges,” said Hamada. “I think it’s just a magnificent place. From the very first time I went there, I completely fell in love with it.”
He said he especially admires the city’s response to natural disaster—first Hurricane Katrina and more recently the Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion last spring. The city’s resiliency reminded him of a place and its people on the other side of the globe: Lebanon.
“The spirit of hope that these people have after each and every war event or shelling, they have because there is no other option,” said Hamada. “They have to get back up and build themselves. And this is exactly what everybody does in New Orleans. And it’s just so inspiring, seeing them go through this.”
Following his introduction, Hamada played the documentary, which featured jazz music, narration by fellow master’s student David Nicholson, and numerous interviews with New Orleans locals.
Hamada talked to street performers, food connoisseurs, restaurant association members, chefs, restaurant owners, fish mongers and vendors about the impact of the oil spill. In the video, they talk about the iconic local food culture, their concerns about the quality and safety of the Gulf’s seafood, and media-perpetuated misconceptions of the situation.
The documentary also cited statistics and food safety analysis results, which gave scientific support to Ahmed’s larger thesis: It’s safe to eat seafood from the Gulf.
Major, who hadn’t seen the longer version of the project before Wednesday, praised Hamada for his unique angle on a story that was often told through a limited frame.
“We’ve seen so much news attention paid to the oil spill’s environmental impact,” said Hatley Major, who previously lived in Louisiana, “but Ahmed understood that New Orleans is all about food.”
She says Hamada also did a nice job of combining the quantitative data with his interviews.
Hamada also took time to thank his classmates and professors for their support during this project and his larger sojourn in Bloomington. The airing of the documentary, says Hamada, who’s finishing his thesis this semester, was also a chance to say farewell to Bloomington.
“It’s going to be extremely hard to forget this place, not that I’m going to try,” joked Hamada, “but I’ve just loved, loved, loved it here.”
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