[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I was a child,\NI knew I had superpowers.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's right.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought I was absolutely amazing\Nbecause I could understand
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and relate to the feelings\Nof brown people, like my grandfather,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a conservative Muslim guy.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And also, I could understand\Nmy Afghan mother, my Pakistani father,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not so religious but\Nlaid-back, fairly liberal.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And of course, I could understand\Nand relate to the feelings of white people.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The white Norwegians of my country.\NYou know, white, brown, whatever,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I loved them all. I understood them all,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even if they didn't always\Nunderstand each other,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they were all my people.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My father, though,\Nwas always really worried.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He kept saying that\Neven with the best education,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was not going to get a fair shake.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would still face discrimination,\Naccording to him, and that they only way
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be accepted by white people\Nwould be to become famous.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now mind you, he had this conversation\Nwith me when I was seven-years-old.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So while I'm seven-years-old,\Nhe said, look,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so its either got to be sports,\Nor its got to be music.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He didn't know anything about sports --\Nbless him -- so it was music.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So when I was seven-years-old,\Nhe gathered all my toys, all my dolls,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he threw them all away.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In exchange, he gave me a crappy little\NCasio keyboard and singing lessons.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He forced me, basically, to practice\Nfor hours and hours every single day.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Very quickly, he also had me performing\Nfor larger and larger audiences,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and bizarrely, I became almost\Na kind of poster child
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for Norwegian multi-culturalism.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I felt very proud, of course.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even the newspapers were starting\Nto write nice things about brown people,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I could feel that\Nmy superpower was growing.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So when I was 12-years-old,\Nwalking home from school,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I took a little detour\Nbecause I wanted to buy
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my favorite sweets called Salty Feets.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know they sound kind of awful,\Nbut I absolutely love them.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're basically these little salty\Nlicorice bits in the shape of feet.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And now that I say it out loud,\NI realize how terrible that sounds,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but be that as it may,\NI absolutely love them.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So on my way into the store,\Nthere was this grown white guy
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the doorway blocking my way.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I tried to walk around him,\Nand as I did that, he stopped me
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he was staring at me,\Nand he spit in my face,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he said, get out of my way\Nyou little black bitch,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you little Paki bitch,\Ngo back home where you came from.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was absolutely horrified.\NI was staring at him.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was too afraid to wipe\Nthe spit off my face,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even as it was mixing with my tears.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember looking around,\Nhoping that any minute now,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a grown-up is going to come \Nand make this guy stop.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But instead, people kept hurrying past me\Nand pretended not to see me.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was very confused\Nbecause I was thinking,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,well, my white people, come on!\NWhere are they? What's going on?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How come they're not\Ncoming and rescuing me?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, needless to say,\NI didn't buy the sweets.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I just ran home as fast as I could.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Things were still okay, though, I thought.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As time went on, the more successful\NI became, I eventually started attracting
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,harassment from brown people.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some men in my parent's community\Nfelt that it was unacceptable
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and dishonorable for a woman\Nto be involved in music
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to be so present in the media.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So very quickly, I was starting to become\Nattacked at my own concerts.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember one of the concerts,\NI was onstage, I lean into the audience
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the last thing I see is\Na young brown face
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the next thing I know\Nsome sort of chemical is thrown in my eyes
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I remember I couldn't really see\Nand my eyes were watering
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I kept singing anyway.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was spit in the face in the streets\Nof Oslo, this time by brown men.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They even tried to\Nkidnap me at one point.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The death threats were endless.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember one older bearded guy\Nstopped me in the street one time,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he said, the reason\NI hate you so much
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is because you make\Nour daughters think
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they can do whatever they want.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A younger guy warned me\Nto watch my back.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said music is un-Islamic\Nand the job of whores,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if you keep this up,\Nyou are going to be raped
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and your stomach will be cut out so that\Nanother whore like you will not be born.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Again, I was so confused.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I couldn't understand\Nwhat was going on.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My brown people now starting\Nto treat me like this -- how come?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead of bridging the worlds, \Nthe two worlds, I felt like I was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,falling between my two worlds.\NI suppose for me, spit was kryptonite.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So by the time I was 17-years-old,\Nthe death threats were endless
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the harassment was constant.\NIt got so bad, at one point my mother
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sat me down and said, look,\Nwe can no longer protect you,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we can no longer keep you safe,\Nso you're going to have to go.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I bought a one-way ticket to London.\NI packed my suitcase, and I left.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My biggest heartbreak at that point\Nwas that nobody said anything.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had a very public exit from Norway.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My brown people, my white people,\Nnobody said anything.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nobody said, hold on, this is wrong.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Support this girl, protect this girl\Nbecause she is one of us.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nope. Nobody said that.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead, I felt like,\Nyou know at the airport, on the baggage
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,carousel you have these different\Nsuitcases going around and around
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there's always that one suitcase left\Nat the end, the one that nobody wants,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the one that nobody comes to claim.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I felt like that. I'd never felt so alone.\NI'd never felt so lost.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, after coming to London,\NI did eventually resume my music career.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Different place but unfortunately\Nthe same old story.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember a message sent to me\Nsaying that I was going to be killed
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that rivers of blood were going\Nto flow and that I was going to be raped
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many times before I died.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By this point, I have to say,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was actually getting used\Nto messages like this,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but what became different was that\Nnow they started threatening my family.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So once again, I packed my suitcase,\NI left music and I moved to the US.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd had enough. I didn't want to have\Nanything to do with this anymore.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I was certainly not\Ngoing to be killed for something
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that wasn't even my dream --\Nit was my father's choice.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I kind of got lost.\NI kind of fell apart.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I decided that what I wanted to do\Nis spend the next however many years
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of my life supporting young people\Nand to try to be there in some small way,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whatever way that I could.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started volunteering for various\Norganizations that were working
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with young Muslims inside of Europe.\N
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, to my surprise, what I found\Nwas so many of these young people
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were suffering and struggling.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They were facing so many problems\Nwith their families and their communities
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who seemed to care more about\Ntheir honor and their reputation than the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,happiness and the lives of their own kids.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started feeling like maybe I wasn't\Nso alone, maybe I wasn't so weird.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe there are more of\Nmy people out there.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The thing is, what most people\Ndon't understand is that there are so many
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of us growing up in Europe who\Nare not free to be ourselves.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're not allowed to be who we are.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are not free to marry or to be in\Nrelationships with people that we choose.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can't even pick our own career.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the norm in the\NMuslim heartlands of Europe,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even in the freest societies in the world,\Nwe're not free.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our lives, our dreams, our future does not belong to us, it belongs to our parents and their community. I found endless stories of young people who are lost to all of us, who are invisible to all of us but who are suffering and they are suffering alone. Kids that we are losing to forced marriages, honor-based violence and abuse. So, eventually, I realized, after several years of working with these young people that I will not be able to keep running. I can't spend the rest of my life being scared and hiding and that I'm actually going to have to do something. And I also realized that my silence, our silence, allows abuse like this to continue. So I decided that I wanted to put my childhood superpower to some use by trying to make people on the different sides of these issues understand what its like to be a young person stuck between your family and your country. So I started making films and I started telling stories. I also wanted people to understand the deadly consequences of us not taking these problems seriously. So the first film I made was about Denaz.