Salaam Dunk

Salaam Dunk is a 2011 American documentary film directed by David Fine about an Iraqi university's women basketball program, spearheaded by a US-born instructor as coach.[1][2]

Salaam Dunk
Directed byDavid Fine
Produced byBeau Lewis (producer) Peter Furia, San Saravan, Peter Friedrich (co-producers) Kimi Milo, Abigail Weintraub (associate producers)
StarringThe American University of Iraq – Sulaimani women basketball players and their team coach Ryan Bubalo
CinematographySan Saravan, David Fine
Edited byDavid Fine, Bill Weber
Distributed bySeedwell Films (also executive producer)
Release date
  • November 11, 2011 (2011-11-11)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish, Arabic, Kurdish

Synopsis

The film follows the women's basketball team of The American University of Iraq – Sulaimani in Iraqi Kurdistan for a full academic year. The players discover what it means to be students, athletes and friends in the difficult political, economic, cultural and ethnic/sectarian divide, and how basketball unites them around a game. The film follows the lives of some of the players, notably Laylan (team captain), Enji, Ola and Safa, and their basketball coach Ryan Bubalo, who is the university's contractual English language teacher.[3] The film is a testament to the perseverance of a handful of young Iraqi women, and is a story of triumph in the face of chaos and adversity.

Reception and awards

The film gained mostly positive reviews.[4][5] It also became part of the Nike Jordans Rise Above campaign, which featured basketball team captain Laylan in a five-minute presentation.

Special selection

The film was an official selection at various festivals, including:

Doha Tribeca flew the entire basketball team (17 young women) from Iraq to Doha for the screening of the film, where they met their previous coach Ryan Bubalo, who had flown in from the US to attend the screening.[3]

Awards

Salaam Dunk won several awards at film festivals:

References
  1. "Iraqi women find refuge in basketball". EspnW. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  2. "Women's basketball tries to rebound". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  3. StudySync: Introducing Ryan Bubalo, Education Accounts Manager
  4. "Salaam Dunk". Variety. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  5. "Salaam Dunk: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  6. IMDb.com Salaam Dunk awards page
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