State Rep. Ilhan Omar is the subject of "Time for Ilhan," showing at the Walker and on Fuse. /Chris Newberry
After making the rounds of the film festival circuit, Minneapolis filmmaker Norah Shapiro will bring her documentary, "Time for Ilhan," to Walker Art Center for five screenings Sept. 21-29.
It also will make its national TV debut on the Fuse cable channel at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, which is National Voter Registration Day.
Tracking the rise to prominence of Somali-American leader Ilhan Omar, who vaulted from community organizer to Minnesota's state legislature (and who is now running for the U.S. House of Representatives, which happened after the film was completed), "Time for Ilhan" premiered last spring at Tribeca Film Festival. Since then, it has played at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival, Hot Docs and Mill Valley Film Festival, among many others.
Toronto's Hot Docs was a favorite, said Shapiro, whose other work includes "Miss Tibet" and an in-the-works project about the Jacob Wetterling family.
"It was the most profound screening experience I have had, with a theater full of 700 middle schoolers, most of whom were people of color," said Shapiro. "We were standing outside where it was screening and, all of a sudden, one of my producers said, 'What's that noise?' We opened the doors and these kids were screaming and cheering for the film."
The Sept. 21 showing is sold out but tickets remain for 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, as well as 7 p.m. Sept. 28 and 2 p.m. Sept. 29 (Shapiro will introduce the screenings on Sept. 22). Tickets, which are $8-$10, are available at 612-375-7600 or walkerart.org.
