 Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath
An award-winning film by Sharat Raju & Valarie Kaur
2008 | 90 min | Color | U.S.A.
Valarie Kaur was a 20-year-old college student when she set out across America in the aftermath of 9/11, camera in hand, to document hate violence against her community. From the still-shocked streets of Ground Zero to the desert towns of the American west, her epic journey confronts the forces unleashed in a time of national crisis – racism and religion, fear and forgiveness – until she finds the heart of America… halfway around the world.
Winner of more than a dozen international awards, Divided We Fall "is an illuminating meditation upon what it has meant to be 'one of us' since September 11" (Harold Hongju Koh, Dean of Yale Law School). On a two-year international tour, the film is opening spaces for deep dialogue in 90 cities at more than 150 universities, festivals, and schools. It is celebrated as "a starting point for the new dialogue on race and religion that is essential to America's future" (Diana L. Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University and director of The Pluralism Project).
 Brought to you by New Moon Productions, Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath is the first feature-length independent documentary film about hate violence in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.
The journey to make the film began when 20-year old college student Valarie Kaur drove across the country in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, documenting stories in the Sikh, Muslim, and Arab American communities. Over the next five years, Valarie Kaur's journey unfolded into a larger exploration of 'who counts' as American. In 2005, award-winning director Sharat Raju and his film crew joined Valarie as she retraced her steps across the country, revisiting her original interviewees and interviewing scholars, lawyers, and legislators about race, religion, and security in post-9/11 America.
Divided We Fall made its world premiere on September 14, 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona to commemorate the five-year memorial of the first American killed in a post-9/11 hate crime, Balbir Sodhi. The film has been recognized by the State of California and film festivals, including Best International Documentary at the ReelWorld Film Festival of Toronto, Best Documentary - Audience Choice at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and Best Documentary at the New Jersey Independent South Asian Ciné Fest.
Since its world premiere, the award-winning film has been on international tour, premiering in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and India. At more than sixty different American cities, the film has been met with standing ovations, glowing audience reviews, and critical praise. The filmmakers have been featured in major media outlets including NPR, BBC, CNN, and the Religion News Service.
Divided We Fall will be released on home video in October 2008.
 SIKHISM is the youngest of the major world religions. It is the fifth largest organized world religion. There are half a million Sikhs in the US and 23 million Sikhs worldwide. This means that there are twice as many Sikhs than there are our Jewish brothers and sisters, and yet very little social knowledge about Sikhs and Sikhism.
For additional information on Sikhs, post-9/11 prejudice, and what you can do to make a difference, please visit these links:
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