Ahmed Ahmed’s Just Like Us made its world premiere at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival and almost exactly a year later, wrapped up its festival run back in New York at the Gold Coast International Film Festival. Similarly to the film and Ahmed’s approach to life, Just Like Us has come full circle. Sticking with the idioms, when one door closes for this documentary, another one opens as Just Like Us is preparing for a US release via Lionsgate.
In the film, Ahmed tackles the misconception that Arabs have no sense of humor. With the help of a hilarious and amusingly crude team of comedians, Ahmed travels to Dubai, Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, pushing the cultural limits through stand-up performances in an effort to show Arabs are just like us; they love comedy.
As silly as Ahmed can be, the comedian-turned-filmmaker certainly knows how to get serious in order to put together a feature film and a rather ambitious one at that. Not only did Ahmed and his crew not arrive overseas to open arms and have to manage a laundry list of production elements associated with making a documentary, but he also had to keep storytelling and entertainment value in mind. Once back in the states, it was off to the editing room to whittle down a five and a half hour first cut down to just 72 minutes.
Clearly this is a bit of a never-ending process and it seems as though Ahmed prefers it that way as he’s already shot the sequel, Just Like Us Too. Keep your fingers crossed that one arrives for a 2012 Tribeca Film Festival premiere, but, until then, check out my chat with Ahmed below and be sure to catch Just Like Us as it rolls out across the country starting in New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles on June 10th.
By Perri Nemiroff