Valarie Kaur's film Divided We Fall

Nearly  3,000 people were murdered when al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four airplanes and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in a field outside of Philadelphia.   
*During the hate backlash the turban-wearing Sikh Balbir Singh  Sodhi was gunned down on Sept. 15, 2001 in Mesa, Arizona.  He was killed outside his gas station. 
*Another victim was Waqar Hasan of Dallas, Texas the 46-year-old Pakistani. He was also murdered on Sept. 15, 2001. , was shot to death in a convenience store he owned. 
*Vasudev Patel also murdered days later in nearby Mesquite, Texas.
*Ali Almansoop, an American citizen and father of four was murdered six days later on Sept. 21, 2001 at his Detroit, Michigan home.
*Swaran Kaur Bhullar, a Sikh woman, was stabbed in the head at a traffic light in early October 2001. The attackers fled.
All these incidents shaken the Valarie Kaur and she decided to do some thing....ultimately she came with her film...Devided We Fall. She  is the creator, writer and producer of the film. 

Brought to you by New Moon Productions, Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermathis the first feature-length independent documentary film about hate violence in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. 

Divided We Fall follows the journey of 20-year-old college student Valarie Kaur as she documents hate violence against Sikhs and Muslims in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001 and examines the larger question of “who counts” as American.  On a two-year international tour, the film has won more than a dozen awards and reached 150 campuses and communities in 90 cities across the United States.

Valarie Kaur was a 20-year-old college student when she set out across America in the aftermath of 9/11, camera in hand, to document hate violence against her community.  From the still-shocked streets of Ground Zero to the desert towns of the American west, her epic journey confronts the forces unleashed in a time of national crisis – racism and religion, fear and forgiveness – until she finds the heart of America… halfway around the world. 

The journey to make the film began when 20-year old college student Valarie Kaur drove across the country in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, documenting stories in the Sikh, Muslim, and Arab American communities.  Over the next five years, Valarie Kaur's journey unfolded into a larger exploration of 'who counts' as American. 
he journey to make the film began when 20-year old college student Valarie Kaur drove across the country in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, documenting stories in the Sikh, Muslim, and Arab American communities.  Over the next five years, Valarie Kaur's journey unfolded into a larger exploration of 'who counts' as American. In 2005, award-winning director  Sharat Raju   and his      film crew  joined Valarie as she retraced her steps across the country, revisiting her original interviewees and interviewing scholars, lawyers, and legislators about race, religion, and security in post-9/11 America.
 
The film Divided We Fall based on facts and remind us that Sikh men with turbans have been most affected by post 9/11 hate crimes. Post September 11 backlash violence has been primarily directed at those perceived to resemble the enemy – a turbaned and bearded Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda leader. Nearly all people who wear turbans in the United States are Sikh, members of the world’s fifth largest religion who trace their heritage to the Punjab region of India. On September 15, 2001 in Mesa, Arizona, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh man, became the first person murdered in the hate epidemic. Out of the estimated nineteen people murdered in the immediate aftermath, four were turbaned Sikh men. Many hate crimes and incidents have gone unreported. 
The federal government officially reported a 1700% increase in ‘anti-Muslim’ hate crimes, from 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001. This only includes crimes both reported to and recorded by police departments. Community and civil rights organizations have reported thousands of hate incidents in the year following 9/11, including at least nineteen murders. 


Divided We Fall made its world premiere on September 14, 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona to commemorate the five-year memorial of the first American killed in a post-9/11 hate crime, Balbir Sodhi.  The film has been recognized by the State of California and film festivals, including Best International Documentary at the ReelWorld Film Festival of Toronto, Best Documentary - Audience Choice at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and Best Documentary at the New Jersey Independent South Asian Ciné Fest.

Since its world premiere, the award-winning film has been now on  international tour, premiering in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and India. At more than sixty different American cities, the film has been met with standing ovations, glowing audience reviews, and critical praise.  The filmmakers have been featured in major media outlets including NPR, BBC, CNN, and the Religion News Service.