ULTIMATE
DOCS COMPETITION
WHEN
ADNAN COMES HOME
USA,
2006, 74 min.
Director: Andrew Berends
Producer: Andrew Berends
Cinematography: Andrew Berends
Editing: Aaron Soffin
Sound: Andrew Berends
Production company: Storyteller
Productions
Print Source:
Storyteller Productions
38 Prospect Park SW, Apt.19
NY 11215 Brooklyn
USA
Tel.: +1 917 2794318
Fax: +1 7185225822
e-mail: andrewberends@gmail.com
www.storytellerinc.com
When Adnan Comes Home
In
2003, Adnan, a tall and lanky 17-year-old Iraqi was arrested
and put in jail. He was accused of stealing two metres of
electrical cable, something that Iraqi law deems a crime against
the state. Adnan claims to have been asked to carry the cable
with no intentions of stealing it, but nonetheless he was
transferred to juvenile detention to await trial. Housed among
convicted murderers and felons, fate dealt Adnan another awful
blow: during a mass escape attempt, a fire broke out and Adnan
suffered severe burns to his face and hands. Initially filmmaker
Andrew Berends obtained permission to film in the juvenile
detention prison, but he grew increasingly more involved in
Adnan's story. So much so that he became an intermediary between
the desperate young man and his distraught family. At first,
Adnan's father was so angry and embarrassed about his son's
offence he refused to go see him. In the wake of the fire,
however, compassion overcame him and the family does their
best to help Adnan recover and return home. Out of this intimate
conflict, Berends presents a tender and insightful look of
daily life in an Iraqi family, where love takes a back-seat
to the will of God.
 Andrew
Berends is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer.
His documentary film, Urk, was the International
Documentary Association's Pare Lorentz Award.
Filmography:
When Adnan Comes Home (2006);
The Blood of My Brother: A Story of
Death in Iraq
(2005);
Urk
(2003);
Janie
(1997), short;
The White Baloon (1994), short.
MONDAY,
APRIL 2 AT 5:00 PM./CHOPIN THEATRE 
SUNDAY,
APRIL 8 AT 9:00 PM./GALLERY THEATRE
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