BBC interview with Valarie Kaur
BBC Asian Network (radio) - Jan. 7, 2007

Valarie Kaur is interviewed by Amanda Hussain of the BBC Asian Network about her journey across America in making Divided We Fall.

Correction: Amanda Hussain says in this piece, "immediately after the [9/11] attacks, the film was released in the U.S.," but the film was actually not completed until Sept. 2006.


TRANSCRIPT

HUSSAIN: Staying with films now, there's a movie about a young Punjabi woman's journey across America. Nothing extraordinary necessarily in that, but Valarie Kaur made this trek post-9/11, when race hate crimes hit an all-time high. It's a documentary, Divided We Fall, it's called, and it follows the stories of Asians living through a very tough year that saw race hate crime in America quadruple. So immediately after the attacks, the film was released in America, hasn't yet opened here in the U.K., but Valarie Kaur joins me now. Good morning, welcome to the show.

KAUR: Thank you, Amanda.

HUSSAIN: Now, you were twenty, weren't you, was this five years back when you first made this documentary?

KAUR: That's right.

HUSSAIN: And what inspired you to make the film?

KAUR: You know, I set out across the country at twenty years old, in the aftermath of 9/11, because I wanted to capture the stories that weren't being told on the evening news. They were stories of fear, violence, unspeakable loss, especially at a time when our President said we were united. But over the next five years, my journey turned into this larger question of who counts as American. You know, as a Sikh American, my family has been in this country for a hundred years, and yet we were still struggling to be seen as a part of the American mosaic. So this film is really meant to further the vision that we have the capacity to embrace and celebrate difference, even during times of crisis.

HUSSAIN: Was it tough? Did you experience a lot of problems yourself? I mean, how were you treated?

KAUR: Yes! in fact, I was traveling with my cousin, who wore a beard and turban, as a Sikh, and people began to yell at us, to tell us to go back to our country, so the camera sort of spun 180 degrees, as I began to see myself through the eyes of other people who saw me as foreign, suspect, un-American. And this happened with thousands of Sikhs, Muslims and Arabs across the country. So it was very, very difficult. But at the same time, I found a remarkable resilience in these communities. In fact, my journey in the film ends in India, where I find the heart of America in the words of a widow, the widow of the first man who was killed in the aftermath.

HUSSAIN: But to be American, you've said, you know, you are American through and through. It must have been quite depressing, you know, you experiencing that hate first-hand.

KAUR: It was. And at twenty years old, it sort of really shook me to the core, as I began to see myself through the eyes of others. And it taught me that in order to be American I almost had to struggle for my place in this country, to be seen as part of this country. And it wasn't just my struggle; it's been the struggle since the inception of the country, from Native Americans to Black Americans to Asian Americans, so this is just our time to claim our place and create this country into what we want it to be.

HUSSAIN: Were you one of those documentary makers who created a distance, or did you get into dialogue with any of these characters who took issue with the way you looked?

KAUR: Oh! You know, in fact, there's a scene in the film where, you know, somebody walks by us in Union Square in Washington, D.C. and tells us to go back to our country, and we chase after him with a camera, and we do engage in dialogue. And that particular moment was really disappointing, because it was clear that that prejudice was so linked with Christian fundamentalism, of him wanting to convert us. So it seems that the kind of fundamentalism and the kind of nationalism that would make one see the other as an other kind of resists the dialogue that we really need. But in other situations, we had remarkable transformations. We had people who really did wish to engage in dialogue, and you can see that also in the film.

HUSSAIN: Ok, and how do we get to see the film here in the U.K., Valarie?

KAUR: Well, we're hoping for a U.K. release later this year, but if you want to order the DVD, you can do that online, you can watch clips of the movie online. It's dwf-film.com for Divided We Fall.

HUSSAIN: Alright. Alright, thanks very much, Valarie.

KAUR: Thank you, Amanda.

HUSSAIN: That's Valarie Kaur there. Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Tough journey she's made. Alright, 11 minutes past 8. Amanda Hussain with you on BBC Asian Network til 10.