''Salaam Dunk'' is a 2011 American documentary film directed by David Fine about an Iraqi university's women basketball program, spearheaded by a US-born instructor as coach.

Synopsis

The film follows the women's basketball team of

The American University of Iraq – Sulaimani American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) (; Arabic: الجامعة الأمريكية في العراق، السليمانية) is a not-for-profit, private institution located in Sulaymaniyah, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The univer ...

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

for a full academic year. The players discover what it means to be students, athletes and friends in the difficult political, economic, cultural and ethnic/sectarian divide, and how basketball unites them around a game. The film follows the lives of some of the players, notably Laylan (team captain), Enji, Ola and Safa, and their basketball coach Ryan Bubalo, who is the university's contractual English language teacher.StudySync: Introducing Ryan Bubalo, Education Accounts Manager
/ref> The film is a testament to the perseverance of a handful of young Iraqi women, and is a story of triumph in the face of chaos and adversity.

Reception and awards

The film gained mostly positive reviews. It also became part of the

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

s Rise Above campaign, which featured basketball team captain Laylan in a five-minute presentation. ;Special selection The film was an official selection at various festivals, including: *International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam *Both New York and London

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

Film festivals *

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

's Kids section *

DOXA Documentary Film Festival The DOXA Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is held annually held for 10 days in May, and is presented by The Documentary Media Society, a non-profit organization. The festiv ...

in Vancouver *

Doha Tribeca Film Festival The Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) was an annual five-day film festival that was organised from 2009 to 2012 to promote Arab and international films, and to develop a sustainable film industry in Qatar. One of Qatar's largest entertainment event ...

Doha Tribeca flew the entire basketball team (17 young women) from Iraq to

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

for the screening of the film, where they met their previous coach Ryan Bubalo, who had flown in from the US to attend the screening. ;Awards ''Salaam Dunk'' won several awards at film festivals: *It won the Gold Plaque for "Best Documentary" award at the 2011

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

. It was also nominated for the Gold Hugo "Best Documentary" award. *It won the Grand Jury Award for "Best Documentary feature" at the

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational fo ...

in 2012IMDb.com ''Salaam Dunk'' awards page
/ref> *It won the Grand Jury Award at the

Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...

References

External links

''Salaam Dunk'' official website
* {{IMDb title, 1800370, Salaam Dunk 2011 films American basketball films Films set in Iraq Documentary films about basketball 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Women's sport in Iraq Basketball in Iraq Women's basketball in Asia