Osama and Ayman
2018 · 8m · USA
Directed by Ben Mullinkosson, Sam Price-Waldman, Chris Cresci
Genres: documentary, sports
Two Muslim-American brothers who are engineers, entrepreneurs, and avid skateboarders navigate growing Islamophobia with style and humor in Washington, D.C.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The premise wants to be subversive—Muslim skateboarders deflecting Islamophobia with cool—but it lands too neatly, too earnest, more TED talk than genuine friction; the humor undercuts any real edge.
A well-intentioned doc that sits somewhere between profile and PSA, competent in its weaving of skateboard sequences with personal testimony, though it doesn't quite find the formal restraint or thematic depth that would elevate it beyond a sympathetic sketch.
The decision to let the skateboarding itself be the counterargument—not talking *about* joy and belonging, but simply showing it in motion, in a sequence—is what transforms this from advocacy into something that actually lands; that choice does all the work.
Reviews
They are engineers (Ayman works for NASA), avid skateboarders, and devout Muslims—a combination of traits that the brothers say tends to confuse strangers.