Rashid Ghazi, director of the renowned documentary Fordson, visited Niles West on Friday Sep. 30. He spoke to students, staff, and other school members about his film and also answered many questions.

Ghazi grew up in Chicago and attended Niles West during his freshman year. Afterwards he transferred to a private school. Ghazi was always a sports fan which led him to work for ESPN. He has put up many games on ESPN and also introduced Lebron James on television. While working for ESPN, Ghazi found out about a school in Dearborn named Fordson whose  football team had qualified for the state championship. Afterwards, Ghazi visited the school and was fascinated by the number of Arabs and how the students could play football during Ramadan. He got the idea of making a documentary on this school in order to humanize Islam.

“We wanted people to be educated. If nobody would take out the film, how would we educate them about Islam?” said Ghazi when asked about the film.

There were many  difficulties that Ghazi had to face before and after making Fordson. The idea was rejected many times before Ghazi was given permission to create the film. After the film was made, many television networks rejected the film to be aired, such as TLC, HBO, and PBS. Ghazi also received discouraging comments from bloggers who expressed their hatred for the film.

According to Ghazi, the film humanized Islam in the eyes of non-Muslims and made them aware of the fact that not all Muslims are bad. He wanted people to accept Muslims as Muslim-Americans, Arab-Muslim Americans, and so forth.

“We received an eye-opening reaction from non-Muslims which is a humbling response for us, but we still have a long way to go,” said Ghazi.

Ghazi also received feedback from government officials on his film. Hilary Clinton discussed his film on a party held for Eid-ul-Fitr, and he even received admiration on behalf of the country from admirals in the US Government.

Sophomore Anisha Mannancheril said having a director at Niles West was an amazing experience.

“I though it was an amazing experience because I don’t think Niles West has ever had someone like this come to school. And after watching the trailer I really want to go and see the movie,” Mannancheril said.

Sophomore Fariha Waheed said Fordson made her feel very fortunate.

“Fordson was really inspiring, like it made me realize that I’m lucky to go to Niles West because of all the Muslims we have in the school and how we’re lucky enough to pray together,” she said.

Junior Zarin Sultana said that Ghazi’s documentary about young Muslim men playing the American sport has made him an inspirational figure to Muslims everywhere.

“I think it was incredibly brave of him to make this movie and to represent Islam, because first of all, he didn’t know what type of feedback he was going to get from this, and second, this was from his own budget. The players I think were very inspiring. One of the players had said, ‘If you can fast in the month of Ramadan, then you can do anything,’ and I think he’s right,” said Sultana.

In the future, Ghazi hopes to make a Hollywood production inspired by Fordson. He would like to make this a feature film that combines with history to make a greater impact on Muslims and non-Muslims everywhere.