The one that got Away.

Not many people know a few years ago I started filming my first feature documentary as a director with the working title, The Terrorist’s Son, based off of the life of Zak Ebrahim. Zak had done a TED Talk and released a book with the same title and that is how I discovered him and his story. When I reached out I had no idea he literally lived a few miles from me. After meeting and talking for a bit, we started production, hoping to create an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the life of an American boy raised by his terrorist father.

The film was to be told from the perspective of Zak Ebrahim, the son of a terrorist. Zak was born Abdulaziz El Sayyid Nosair in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1983. His father, El Sayyid Nosair, assassinated Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League and a militant Orthodox rabbi. Nosair was subsequently convicted of involvement in the New York City landmark bomb plot. This is the story of a boy inculcated in dogma and hate—a boy presumed to follow in his father’s footsteps—and the man who chose a different path.

It was and still is incredibly timely and I hope one day to be able to revisit it. But ultimately I had to stop production because we could not get access to interview his father, who is in prison for life. I can and have talked to his father before who had agreed to be interviewed, but the prison system/warden has denied our requests.

We had several interviews under our belt including Zak and the FBI Informant who helped bring down the terrorist cell, Emad Salem. Funding was shaping up as well meaning we were incredibly close to green-lighting the project. But ultimately, I had to let go for the time being because at it’s core it was a story of a father and son and without the father I didn’t want to proceed and choose to compromise the story.

While I can’t publicly show our sizzle, I highly recommend watching his TED Talk. Zak is an incredible human being with a lot of wisdom to share. I hope to one day be able to tell this how I intended to. But for now, this is the one that got away 😢