32-year-old documentary filmmaker, Mahdy Maaweel, says he was inspired by injustice. His documentary What happened to the dream based on the November 2001 federal raid at the Maka Mini Mart and Barakat Wire Transfer in Seattle's Rainier Valley has earned him awards and appearances all over the Unites States. In this documentary Mahdy introduces us to the Somali-American experiences post the September 11 th. by using his award-winning "Somalisan Television" to speak for many others.

Mahdy is not only a filmmaker but also produces the only live weekly bilingual Somali American Television in America, called Somalisan Television out in Seattle, Washington. And it is the award wining best of the Northwest 2002 and 2003 for making a difference category.

Mahdy has established himself as one of the Somali-Americans most important and influential filmmakers in the past few years. He has now completed his second film What happened to the dream released last weekend in Columbus, Ohio State University in 2004. The response from the audience was so incredible and very crowded, that the OSU professor had to invite Mahdy to come back in January 2005 to the OSU in order to share his documentary the rest of the students. This is a remarkable story and it must to be seen both the Somali Americans as well as Americans at large. The reason simply is that it is inspirational, informative, entertainment, activism and educational. Mahdy is forcing you to think and do something about not only the Somali American issues, but rather any giving issues that concerns an injustices. What is interesting about this film entirely it is done in English. Mahdy�s agenda is to make entertainment that he hopes will prompt Americans to do their civic duty.

Mahdy packs as much as he can into this documentary�jumping from one point to another, from sarcastic parody to poignant tragedy. But What happened to the dream is more direct, it provides a definitive solution to the story that it presents.

Many have speculated What happened to the dream may turn out to be historically significant, as it may be the first film ever to affect the Somali American community the way they see their new land called America. Mahdy has repeatedly said that this is the goal of his film�and he goes about it in a none-too-subtle fashion. On his intentions: �When I make a movie, it's a movie I'd like to see on a Friday night. I wanted to say something about post-9/11 in America for past 3 years: What's happened to us as a people in general. This time is for the Muslims and you don�t know that tomorrow it could be you. And I hope it will influence people leaving the theatre, encourage them to be good citizens.

In addition to his achievements in feature films, Mahdy has produced and directed numerous music videos for such diverse artists. Mahdy�s What happened to the dream tour will be coming to your cities this coming holidays. This weekend it will be shown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Portland, Oregon, Nashville, TN, Santiago, CA, and Atlanta, If you�re like me, and you follow the news closely, most of What happened to the dream won�t provide many Earth-shattering revelations. There were a few moments, however, that were enlightening.

Source: Micheal Wiseman,

Freelance Journalist Ohio

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