Alliance of Documentary Editors

ALT The Alliance of Documentary Editors supports our Muslim and MENASA community

ALT Dear Sundance Film Festival, cc: Fork Films, Gotham Labs (formerly IFP Labs), XTR, Berkeley Film Foundation We are in solidarity with our Muslim and MENASA film community who have bravely spoken out against the programming of the unethical and dangerous film, Jihad Rehab, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The Inclusion and Access Committee of the Alliance of Documentary Editors (ADE) joins the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA), and dozens of other organizations in imploring you to address the Muslim and MENASA filmmakers (Assia Boundaoui, Jude Chehab, Nausheen Dadabhoy, Marjan Safinia, Sami Khan, Amber Fares, Razi Jafri, Samia Khan, Farihah Zaman, Malika Zouhali-Worrall to name a few) and the MENASA community’s deep concerns about the dangers of these curatorial and funding choices.

ALT We have also seen politicians and human rights advocates speak out and express their concerns about the safety of the people in the film. The real consequences to the Muslim and MENASA community's safety is one we take very seriously. We need answers and dialogue as to how this film was seen as supportable and programmable. XTR quietly removing their announcement and support of the film without taking responsibility and participating in actionable accountability steps will not suffice. The silence from Fork Films, Gotham Labs and Berkeley Film Foundation is complicity. As filmmakers, we look to these institutions not only as financial supporters but also as mentors, so what does this unconditional support for Jihad Rehab say to other filmmakers? It is clear that Sundance's willingness to lose leaders like Brenda Couglin and Karim Ahmad over Jihad Rehab, two staff members who were at the forefront of the battle of equity in our industry, is a reflection of the organization’s commitment

ALT Furthermore, the most recent statement from Sundance is not enough. While this is an attempt to recognize the hurt that the community is currently feeling, it does not address the danger it has put the larger Muslim community in nor how the film was programmed in the first place. Rather it puts the onus on the community to call out ‘missteps’ such as these. This should not be our responsibility. The egregious ethical, immoral and plain inaccurate statements in Jihad Rehab show that the curatorial team at Sundance isn’t interested in films that further our ‘civic society’ but rather ones that are sensationalist and dangerous. In solidarity with the Documentary Producers Alliance’s letter, we call on you to address the MENASA and Muslim filmmakers who have so bravely, openly, and vigorously raised concerns around the film and take the steps toward accountability. Respectfully, The Alliance of Documentary Editors Inclusion and Access Committee, with support from ADE the Steering Committe