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Not to laugh, not to weep. To understand. -- Spinoza From Washington DC in 1980 to Tehran today, the
story of an unrepentant assassin: American Fugitive explores a troubled
web of international intrigue and state-sponsored violence and provides rare
insight into the soul of an articulate accuser with no place to
go.
**** "A captivating
documentary"
"A smartly balanced and probing
documentary" "A compelling portrait" When in 2001 Iranian director Mohsen Makmalbaf’s feature film Kandahar
was acclaimed in Cannes and shown around the world, the international press
picked up on a surprising appearance. The film’s African-American “doctor” was
in fact a man called David Belfield, wanted in the United States for murder, and
now living in exile in Iran. American Fugitive: The Truth About Hassan tells the story of this wanted man,
an American—known in Iran as Hassan Abdulrahman—who says: "There is life after
America." Through this story of an unrepentant assassin who openly accuses “the
real culprits,” another tale emerges: that of covert networks, international
political manipulation, and state-sponsored violence. In Washington D.C. in the summer of 1980, at the behest of Iranian
intelligence, an African-American named David Belfield shot dead Ali Akbar
Tabatabai, the former press attaché and representative of the Shah at the
Iranian embassy. Tabatabai was thought to be involved in a plot to kill the
Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini, and topple the new regime. American Fugitive: The Truth About Hassan tells the story of a young African
American's sudden awareness of race in the United States in the aftermath of the
killing of Martin Luther King, and of his long-running personal confrontation
with Uncle Sam that began with the Black Power movement of the 1970s and the
rise of Islam in the United States. The confrontation continues to this day, as
David Belfield alias Dawud Salahuddin alias Hassan Abdulrahman remains on the
FBI's most wanted list. Exiled in Iran for the last 25 years, Hassan is a sharp-eyed observer and first-hand witness to several of the events that have shaped relations between Islamic Iran and his native America. His story is also that of US domestic and foreign policies and their role in the Middle East crisis. In American Fugitive: The Truth About Hassan, we meet Americans who question their country’s domestic and foreign policies and their impact on the conflict between the Western world and Islamic countries. Featuring interviews with Joseph Trento, an investigative journalist specializing in espionage, Gary Sick, who served on the National Security Council staff of President Carter, and the assassinated man’s twin brother, the film raises grave questions about the convergence between Iran 's conservative clerical rulers and their neo-conservative counterparts in Washington. American Fugitive: The Truth About Hassan provides rare insight into one of
the most critical issues of our time, and into the soul of a man with no place
to go. Quebec – Canada, 2006, Researched, Written and Directed by: Jean-Daniel
Lafond 
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This is the story of Hassan, a Black American who, in 1980, in Washington, acting on a fatwa allegedly issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini, assassinated the Shah’s representative to the United States, Ali Akbar Tabatabai. Since then, he has been wanted by the FBI and has lived in exile in Iran. In Hassan’s story, like many life stories, there comes a time when a crucial choice must be made: to stay and rot in “freedom” in Iran, or to face justice and prison in the United States while trying to explain his version of the truth, a version that raises more questions than it answers. In the wake of the events of September 11, Hassan’s role in Mohsen Makmalbaf’s film Kandahar sent a shock wave through the United States. Today, the face-off between the conservative authorities in Iran and the US government makes Hassan an irritant to all sides. Approaching the truth of a character is a slow process, just as a character’s ability to approach the truth of a film and the demands of another person’s gaze comes slowly: trust must be earned on both sides. Before the shooting started, I had met Hassan on a number of occasions in Iran over the previous six years. Right from the start, our relations were frank and direct. I was intrigued by Hassan’s story precisely because he seeks neither to elude his past nor to evade his responsibilities. On the contrary, he takes full responsibility for his acts and choices; he accepts the consequences and indeed, agrees to bear the blame in the world’s eyes, if not to his own mind. He has always said he was prepared to face his country’s justice system. Hassan’s account unfolds alongside our investigation in the United States. The picture he paints is blurred by Joe Trento’s revelations on the role of the secret services and Gary Sick’s conjectures on the outcome of the 1980 hostage crisis at the US Embassy in Tehran. Suddenly, Tabatabai’s assassination appears in a new light, murkier and more confused. Who did what and on behalf of whom? Who knew what about whom? Hassan’s story brings the underside of history into full view. Beyond the drama that played out between the assassin and his victim emerges a portrayal that reveals a troubling aspect of relations between Iran and the United States over the course of the past 25 years. Why did I make this film? Because cinema allows me to get closer to individuals, to their innermost beings, than might be possible if I didn’t have a film to make. What drives my passion for making films is precisely the possibility of creating cinema at a human level. I am pursuing the pursuits of men and women, not the objects of their pursuits. That requires spending time with the person, patiently, moving closer to the other without becoming the other, in order to better gauge his or her place and role, while at the same time respecting the person’s secrets. I wholeheartedly agree with Spinoza’s maxim: “Neither laugh nor cry, but understand.” Cinema is my philosopher’s staff. It allows me to advance, feeling my way along unpredictable paths, and especially, to share the journey for a while, the time of a poem, a point of view, a tale told, a thought, a sense of indignation, a feeling of torment, a moment of grace with the public. To break the silence. Then to fall silent once more and set off on the road again. That is my vision of the documentary utopia: an insatiable quest for truth—the only struggle, in the end, that is worth it. 75 / 52 min. 2006. Documentary by Jean-Daniel Lafond To read the detailed synopsis, click here. More films created by Jean-Daniel Lafond |
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