HELP TELL THE STORY ABOUT THE HISTORICAL UNCOMMITTED MOVEMENT

With the relentless ongoing genocide in Gaza, brave American activists and leaders under the banner of the unprecedented Uncommitted movement use the tools of democracy fight for their community and try to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza. With your support, we can bring their story to the screen!

THE COMMUNITY

Our story takes place primarily in Dearborn, Michigan. The Arab American community of Dearborn, is one of the most vibrant and historically significant Arab American populations in the United States, often regarded as the heart of Arab American culture in the country. With a population primarily of Lebanese, Yemeni, Iraqi, and Palestinian descent, Dearborn’s Arab American community reflects a tapestry of Middle Eastern cultures, traditions, and histories that have helped shape the city’s identity over the past century.

Due to its demographic reality, Dearborn is often in the news lately as many of the geopolitical conflicts of West Asia (Middle East), have a direct impact on the local community. This has been especially true in the events of the past year since October 7th. Therefore, the Uncommitted Movement was launched in Dearborn to organize a campaign to put pressure on the White House and other elected officials to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza through the democratic process. 

This film will document the grassroots nature of innovative community activism and American politics as well as their intersections with global affairs. We will examine whether or not this is a political and cultural upheaval that can truly transform the country. Will the Uncommitted movement grow into something as seismic as the anti-war campaign of the late 1960s and 1970s? Or will it fizzle out without achieving that same size, intensity, and impact? And are our subjects thinking about other political realities outside of Gaza when they vote “uncommitted”? Is democracy itself in danger if Donald Trump is re-elected? Or is democracy already failing, and is this rebuke of the Democratic political leadership merely a reflection of that?

WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR

Our documentary film team has been embedded with the movement since they launched around the time of the Michigan primary and followed them as they progressed through their subsequent actions at the Democratic National Convention in August as the movement sought to gain a platform and a voice at the DNC. As we move into the final phase of production, our film will document the fallout in the November General Election and what may lie in the balance.

As we are approaching the end of production and beginning editing our film, we need your help to complete the post production tasks to finish a powerful film. 

THE FILMMAKER

Razi Jafri is a documentary filmmaker and producer based in Detroit. His work focuses on democracy, human rights, and America’s evolving cultural landscape. His film, “Hamtramck, USA,” premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival and aired on the PBS program, “America ReFramed.” The film chronicles life and democracy in America’s first Muslim-majority city. Jafri produced the PBS film, “Three Chaplains,” about Muslim chaplains as they fight for religious freedom and equity in the US military. He also produced “ROUGE,” which premiered at the Hot Docs Film Festival. Jafri is currently directing several new documentaries, including one about the “Uncommitted” political grassroots movement born in the Arab and Muslim communities of Metro Detroit. Razi’s work has been supported by the Ford Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation, the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), the Sundance Institute, and others. He has been awarded fellowships by the Impact Partners, the Kresge Foundation, the Knight-Sundance Fellowship, the Sundance Producers Lab+Fellowship, and the Sundance-Disney Fellowship. Jafri holds a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan.