“Between Us and the River” is an independent narrative feature film, currently in pre-production seeking production funding. The film is an art house romantic drama, written by Nika Fehmiu and Nadia Al Sultani. The story follows two college students in love who are forced to reconcile their relationship after they find themselves on opposing sides of a war in which they wanted no part. The film has a net budget of $1 million, with a minimum shooting budget of $500k. We are currently trying to fundraise a minimum of $100-200k in our first round of fundraising.
Our key creative team includes: writer and director Nika Fehmiu, whose first film “Look At Me" premiered in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021 and secured international distribution, screening across the globe. Writer Nadia Sultani, who worked with USAID in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria and wrote her memoir “Baghdad Stories" about her personal and professional journeys back to her homeland of Iraq. Producer Hannah Vicente-Kliot who worked at HBO on “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” and won three Emmy awards during her time there, garnering seven Emmy nominations total. Cinematographer Milos Jacimovic whose feature films have screened at Venice, Locarno, and Rotterdam and won the Europa Cinema labels Award at the 77th Venice Film Festival. And production designer Helen Morales whose work in narrative features has premiered and won awards at SXSW, Tribeca, and Sundance.
The film takes place in New York City in 2005. As the Iraq war rages on overseas, an Iraqi American dancer develops an intimate relationship with a young Mexican American veteran. She struggles with her identity, family, and place in society, pursuing connection amidst chaos, until she discovers a tragic incident in the war had already tied them together.
Beyond telling the story of the second Iraq war from this coming of age perspective, we aim to explore a series of questions that ask how we relate to one another, especially when we are different. How do we experience ourselves and others as individuals versus as part of a whole? How are our judgements and perceptions shaped by the push and pull between feeling and thought? Do we possess the capability for true compassion? In our current world, the answer to this question is becoming increasingly obscured and the consequences increasingly severe.
