FILM TRAILERBUY TICKET PACKAGE/PASSES
Director - Alex Ranarivelo
Starring - Jon Voight, William Fichter, George Kosturos, Ali Afshar, Lia Marie Johnson, Kevin G. Schmidt, Sasha Feldman
Ali Jahani (George Kosturos), a freshly minted immigrant from Iran, is looking for one thing above all else in his new homeland – acceptance. Unfortunately, his timing couldn’t be worse. The year is 1980. Iranian radicals are holding US citizens hostage in Tehran. And in the picture- perfect town of Petaluma, California, the soft-spoken teenage newcomer is the face of the enemy. As Ali struggles with limited results to navigate the strange new landscape of an American high school, he hits upon the idea of joining a sports team to prove himself to his peers. Despite the misgivings of his school’s principal (Jon Voight), he impresses the reluctant Coach Plyler (William Fichtner) with his sheer tenacity and earns a place on the floundering wrestling team. Working with both Plyler and his Uncle Hafez (Ali Afshar), Ali puts his all into his training, earning the respect of his fellow teammates while rekindling the sense of possibility in his two world-weary mentors. Setting his formerly luckless team on a trajectory towards a championship season, so too does he slowly begin to win over the hearts of his classmates and community – while discovering a renewed belief in himself.
Producers - Ali Afshar and Hadeel Reda