‘Obstaculum’ First Look: ‘The Wedding’ & ‘Alia’s Birth’ Director Sam Abbas Teases New Movie About Paris’ Migrant Crisis

EXCLUSIVE: Egyptian-American filmmaker Sam Abbas, whose work to date includes major films The wedding And pseudonym birthteased the first shots for his upcoming film obstacle Researching the refugee crisis.

Abbas spent over a year researching migrant squats in Paris and decided to make a film exploring the human impact of these illegal occupations on both migrants and police.

The film focuses on an incident where 400 people from Ivory Coast, Gambia, Senegal, Sudan, Chad, Eritrea and Ethiopia tried to occupy an abandoned school building in Paris while seeking shelter from the freezing cold.

Abbas wants the public to be immersed in the experiences of both those in hiding and the police. The first images show people laden with belongings, some with children and babies on their backs, trying to break into the building.

“There is currently a huge housing problem for migrants in France that needs to be addressed. There are far too many migrants without a place to live. Paris has become the epicenter of the migrant experience, with squatting regardless of the conditions becoming the ultimate safe haven,” says Abbas.

“After witnessing several successful and unsuccessful squats firsthand, I felt an urgent need to share one squatter’s journey to shed light on the subject.

The film is directed by Sam Abbas and is self-produced by his company Maxxie, Suzzee & Cinema. French actor Edward Akrout (rodins, pseudonym birth) acts as the narrator of the film.

Abbas made headlines with his LGBT theme in 2018 the wedding, for which he organized under-the-radar shows in places like Turkey, Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt where identifying as gay or non-binary is illegal and/or difficult.

His second characteristic pseudonym birth also made headlines for a dramatic neonatal CPR scene. He published an additional short title Marie about home births, which has been viewed more than four million times on various platforms.

Abbas also acted as curator, director, editor and producer for the 2021 documentary recluse (anthologies), where he worked with leading cinematographers from around the world.