“What I was certain of was that she was extraordinary, and that regardless of the outcome of this particular race, this was a story I wanted to follow and tell.” —Norah Shapiro
The dramatic true story of one of America’s brightest political stars, Norah Shapiro’s Time for Ilhan traces the ascent of 34-year-old Ilhan Omar from influential community organizer to the Minnesota House of Representatives. Follow Omar and her team as they strategize her historic campaign—united in their belief of the power of true representative democracy—to become the first Somali American and first black Muslim woman elected to a state legislature in the United States. 2018, DCP, 89 min.
The sold-out screening on Friday, September 21 will be followed by a Q&A with director Norah Shapiro and the film’s subject, Representative Ilhan Omar. Both screenings on Saturday, September 22 will be introduced by the director. A discussion follows the 2 pm screening on Saturday, September 22 with Shapiro and guests moderated by NBC-affiliate KARE 11’s Jana Shortal.
Norah Shapiro is an award-winning Minneapolis-based independent filmmaker who left a decade-long career as public defender to pursue documentary filmmaking. Shapiro is a member of the Minneapolis chapter of pro-women filmmakers organization Film Fatales. Her previous films include Miss Tibet: Beauty in Exile (2014) and Minnesota 13: From Grain to Glass (2016). Time for Ilhan made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2018.
Taiyon Coleman is an assistant professor of American multicultural literature at St. Catherine University. A poet, essayist, and outspoken advocate for intersectionality, Coleman’s writing is featured in the anthology of contemporary essays A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota.
Lulete Mola is director of community impact at the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota and a leader of the Young Women’s Initiative. Mola also provides engagement and professional development initiatives in Minnesota’s East African community. She is the founder of SHE, a young women’s leadership program that was active for 8 years in Minnesota high schools and at the University of Minnesota.
Jillia Pessenda is political director at Women Winning, a statewide multipartisan organization encouraging, promoting, and supporting pro-choice women of all political parties to all levels of public office in Minnesota. In 2017, Pessenda was the first woman and openly LGBTQ person to run for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 1.
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