UNBOWED

This screening is presented in partnership with Hope High School’s Film Production Program, where newportFILM serves as an industry partner providing students with hands-on work-based learning, professional mentorship, and technical workshops. Through this year-round collaboration, newportFILM supports aspiring student filmmakers through media literacy, collaborative classroom programming, and direct event management experience.

This is a FREE event

PARKING
On-site parking is available at this venue.

ACCESSIBILITY
Screening space wheelchair accessible.

ABOUT THE FILM: Dr. Omar Bah became a journalist by walking into a newspaper in his home country of Gambia and offering to help expose government corruption. For his courage, he was tortured by the people he tried to expose, and eventually fled Gambia when a bounty was placed on his head by the regime of the country’s then-president Yahya Jammeh.

“Unbowed” is a moving and intimate portrait of exiled Gambian journalist Dr. Omar Bah, whose life takes a remarkable turn when he is resettled in Rhode Island as a refugee. This profoundly life-altering experience catalyzes Omar’s life in a new direction, becoming Activist, Advocate and Leader for Refugee communities across the U.S.

This film occupies a narrative space between the often-told refugee storyline, which typically consists of deprivation and struggle, or out-sized business success. It centers around Omar’s family and organization, The Refugee Dream Center, where we experience him as leader, advocate, and former refugee, and encounter a journey that comes full circle when Omar is able to resolve his exile and resettlement. “Unbowed” departs from stories which often pigeonhole ideas about refugees and resettlement in America by expanding the refugee narrative, while underscoring the importance of elevating stories like Omar’s.