Fitna

"When a family is kidnapped in Iraq by terrorists, an American Muslim US Army chaplain must choose between serving his country or his religion to save their lives."

Welcome to the fundraising campaign of Fitna, a CSUN CTVA Senior Thesis Film. Thank you for visiting our page- read on to learn about this ambitious project and how you can support us! 

OUR STORY

Fitna follows the story of Ibrahim "Abe" Al Hadhrami, a Muslim American, US Army chaplain and imam stationed in 2005 Iraq. His duty has been to offer spiritual guidance to Muslim servicemembers, but he is soon called upon the most troubling counsel of his career: interrogating a captured Islamic extremist terrorist named Hamza al-Hadid. Hamza knows the  location of the Wolins, a prominent American family kidnapped in Baghdad, and only 24 hours remain before they're scheduled to be executed.

Having exhausted all other methods of interrogation, CIA Agent Dutch McCarthy and US Army Colonel Joseph Blair enlist Abe to convince Hamza through religious means. Abe sees this as an opportunity to bring a lost brother back to the Straight Path, and so he readily agrees to the job.

But as Abe quickly discovers, Hamza does not see him as a fellow brother, but instead a colonizer and traitor to the faith. And no matter how convincing an argument Abe may give, Hamza will not give in easily. Thus the two men who would otherwise greet each other in peace are set onto a path of animosity.

BACKGROUND

It has been twenty years since War in Iraq began in 2003. In the years that followed, hundreds of thousands died in Iraq and surrounding nations from spillover conflicts, disease, famine, and other factors. The war further destabilized the region, leading to the rise of numerous terror groups that warped and manipulated the religion of Islam to suit sinister political aims. Taking place in 2005, Fitna shows one of the many results of the war- how hatred and grief turns once-peaceful men to violence. The film shows that there are no victors from war- there are only those who lose and those who lose more.

YOUR DONATION

Our film is an ambitious one- not only are we doing a period piece, but one set entirely in a different country. Being a student film, we rely on donations from people such as yourself to make this a reality. 

Your generous donations will go to the following:

• ART DESIGN: 2005-accurate uniforms, costumes, and set decoration. Realistic make-up, props (including fake prop weapons), and constructing sets on sound stages.
• CAMERA AND LIGHTING: Having access to high-end, professional equipment including camera and lens packages, grip equipment, and media storage.
• CAST: Hiring talent (and bilingual Arabic speakers, at that), professional casting director, and finding extras to add life to the world.
• CATERING: Feeding all of our wonderful cast and crew!
• LOCATIONS: Securing  and locking locations that accurately depict the Iraqi desert, prison cell blocks, and a two-way mirror interrogation room. In addition, we seek to BUILD our interrogation room set to have maximum creative control with our cinematography and lighting. Along with that: permits, insurance, and transportation to set.
• SOUND: Sound equipment rentals, original score composition/music rights.
• POST-PRODUCTION: Film processing and professional, industry-grade transcoding and color grading through Fotokem. Film festival submissions to make sure our film is seen by as many as possible!
• and above all else, SAFETY: Our film includes fake, non-firing prop weapons and physical stunts. Part of our budget will be toward hiring an official, licensed stunt coordinator and armorer to ensure the safety of cast and crew. Filmmaking is our passion, but under no circumstances should anyone be at risk of injury or serious harm on set, and your donation will help secure that.

**ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO FITNA ARE 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE. The California State University Northridge Foundation is a CHARITABLE ORGANZATION 501 (C)(3) PUBLIC BENEFIT CALIFORNIA CORPORATION.**

THE CREW

In spite of the long road ahead, we are excited to have a crew of talented, dedicated, and passionate filmmakers that will undoubtedly meet the challenge. Rest assured that your donation will go to the best and brightest CSUN has to offer, and with that said: meet our crew!

Writer/Director - Musaid Abdullah

Producer - Ariana Decker

Producer - Milana Bryan

Producer - Christopher Espinoza

1st Assistant Director - Sophie Wright | 2nd Assistant Director - Jojo Starromana

Script Supervisor - Audrey Kuehl

Director of Photography - Soren Blomquist Eggerling

Camera Operator - Will MacDonald

1st Assistant Camera - Trenton Hess | 2nd Assistant Camera -  Caitlin Kelly

Camera Utility - Sophie Verweyen

DIT - Nico Fernandez

Gaffer - DJ Holman

Best Boy Electric - Byron Morse | Best Boy Grip - Thomas Brau

Key Grip - Andrew Suarez

Production Designer - Emily Gallagher

Art Director - Ben Nelson

Prop Master - Daria Noonan-Wehmeyer

Costume Designer - Rebeca Coronado

Editor - Audrey Kuehl | Editor - Max Tepper

Post Producer - Edneisha Tuckker

Sound Mixer/Post Sound Editor - Jimmy Ward

Boom Operator - Julia Amstutz

Sound Utility - Antonio Dorame

Casting by Kerry Baker Casting

SOCIAL MEDIA

If you'd like to support us in another way, you can share this page. The best way to do that would be through our official Instagram account, @fitnafilm - the link to this page will always be in the bio. Also follow that page to stay up-to-date on our production, as well as get exclusive BTS content.

LINK: https://www.instagram.com/fitnafilm/

THANK YOU

All of us from the cast and crew of Fitna- and the students of CSUN alike- thank you for supporting our project. Given we are a student production, every single donation counts toward crafting this story in the most authentic, creative, and safe way possible. We are excited to bring this story to the screen, and we are more excited to share with you our passion and love for filmmaking through what we create.

For inquires, please reach out to the director or one of our producers:

Writer/Director: Musaid Abdullah, musaid.abdullah.211@my.csun.edu

Producer: Ariana Decker, adecker503@gmail.com

Producer: Mila Bryan, milana.bryan.547@my.csun.edu 

Producer: Christopher Espinoza, christopher.espinoza.785@my.csun.edu