The Series
Arab American Stories highlights the diversity within the Arab American community. The series showcases the lives of 39 different Arab Americans from around the country. The stories in the documentary are notably devoid of political or other rhetoric, filled instead with engaging stories of Arab Americans across the country who have made contributions in art, science, and business, and many other areas of society.
Arab American Stories was shot all over the country by a team of talented filmmakers/producers who brought their varied experience to the stories. The stories featured Arab Americans of all walks of life having an impact – on their communities, their families, or the world at large.
The thirteen-week series featured 13 half-hour programs, each program featuring three short character-driven documentaries produced by a variety of independent filmmakers that profiled Arab Americans making an impact in their community, their profession, their family, or the world at large.
The series won an Emmy from the 35th Annual National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and was selected to win the Belva Davis Broadcaster Award from the SAG-AFTRA, American Scene Awards, for presenting a “varied and multifaceted view of Arab Americans from all walks of life.”
Executive Producers of the series were, Warren David, president of Arab America and Jeff Forster, former Vice President of Production and Station Enterprises for Detroit Public Television. The series was produced by Alicia Sams (who was also the producer/director of the Emmy Award-winning film By the People: The Election of Barack Obama) and was hosted by NPR’s Neda Ulaby.
Episode 5: Innovators
The United States prides itself on being a nation of innovators, and these three Arab-Americans are part of that tradition. Imad Mahawili saw a problem with energy in the third world and set out to fix it. Amir Abo-Shaeer created the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy to inspire high school students to go into careers in science and math. And Brian and Leon Dewan have inventing in their blood and music in their souls and have married the two by making highly unique electronic instruments as Dewanatron. Their swarmatron is used on Trent Reznor’s soundtrack for the movie The Social Network.