Ahmed Ahmed’s Just Like Us<\/I> 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<\/I> has come full circle. Sticking with the idioms, when one door closes for this documentary, another one opens as Just Like Us<\/I> is preparing for a US release via Lionsgate.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Clearly this is a bit of a never-ending process and it seems as though Ahmed prefers it that way as he\u2019s already shot the sequel, Just Like Us Too<\/I>. 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<\/I> as it rolls out across the country starting in New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles on June 10th. <\/p>\n