Worldwide, Arab men are depicted by the mainstream media as terrorists, suicide bombers, or at best, extremists. In Things Arab Men Say, Egyptian-born filmmaker Nisreen Baker paints a very different picture.

Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, this engaging documentary introduces us to Jay, Ghassan, Faisal, Adnan, Falah, Bashar and Ramey as they spend an afternoon at Jamal’s Eden Barber Shop discussing work, family, politics, and religion while getting a haircut and a shave. Through their conversation, we begin to understand the challenges these men face and the delicate balance between integrating into Canadian life and preserving one’s identity and culture.

Although located in St. Albert, an Edmonton suburb, Jamal’s Barber Shop could be anywhere, with this small group serving as a microcosm of the Arab community. As they each await their turn in the chair, the men continue to debate the issues, revealing differing personalities and often-surprising views. And once you hear what they have to say, you’ll never succumb to the mainstream message again.

Worldwide, Arab men are depicted by the mainstream media as terrorists, suicide bombers, or at best, extremists. In Things Arab Men Say, Egyptian-born filmmaker Nisreen Baker paints a very different picture.

Join Jay, Ghassan, and their friends as they gather at Jamal’s Eden Barber Shop for a haircut, a shave, and a lively discussion on politics, religion and identity. Although located in St. Albert, an Edmonton suburb, Jamal’s shop could be anywhere, serving as a microcosm of the Arab community.

At times serious, but laced with deft humour, the film follows the group as they debate the issues at hand and express often-surprising views that bring us closer to changing the narrative surrounding their community.

Arab men worldwide are, for the most part, depicted by the mainstream media as terrorists, suicide bombers, or, at best, extremists. Things Arab Men Say, by Egyptian-born filmmaker Nisreen Baker, is an intimate and fascinating documentary that follows eight Arab Canadian friends who reveal a very different picture of Arab men.

Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, this insightful film introduces us to Jay, Ghassan, Faisal, Adnan, Falah, Bashar and Ramey as they gather at Jamal’s Barber Shop for a haircut, a shave, and a little conversation. Topics range from work and family to politics, race and, of course, religion. In the process, they address universal themes such as home, identity, and success, and ultimately, explore what it means to be an Arab in Canada.

We discover how difficult it was for Ghassan, a “stateless” Palestinian, to find a country that would allow him to stay, and how Bashar can’t find decent work even though he has a Ph.D.-level education. We begin to understand the efforts these men—and their families—have made to integrate while simultaneously trying to preserve aspects of their identity and culture.

Although located in St. Albert, an Edmonton suburb, Jamal’s Barber Shop could be anywhere, with this small group of friends serving as a microcosm of the Arab community. As each man waits for his turn in the barber’s chair, their debates, which are often surprising, show the many facets of the Arab community. And once you hear what they have to say, you’ll never succumb to the mainstream message again.

What motivated you to make this film?

Nisreen Baker: The main motivation to make this film is to reach a North American audience, initiate a discourse that challenges the narrative they usually get from mainstream media about Arabs, and spark their desire to discover the “50 Shades of” Arabs, if you will.

Just like what happened with Germans, Italians, Japanese and Turks during WWII, and Russians during the Cold War, the mainstream media tends to vilify Arabs, largely by painting a stereotypical and uniform picture. Now that we are in the era of “the War on Terror,” painting all Arabs with the same brush to create the illusion of “the Other” has become the modus operandi in a post-9/11 world.

Did this group come together for the purpose of this film, or is the film simply capturing one instance of a regular occurrence?

Nisreen Baker: The participants are a group of friends that gather on a regular basis at their barbershop. When their original barber declined to participate in the film, we needed to find a replacement, and that’s when we found Jamal and his quaint barbershop. The majority of the participants are friends of Ghassan and Jay. The only new person in the group is Faisal, whom they had met recently at the barbershop.

What made you realize that this would be interesting subject matter for a film?

Nisreen Baker: Sitting in the waiting room of the barbershop, waiting for my husband and his friends to get haircuts and beard shaves so that all of us could go to the park for a family weekend outing, I witnessed the guys engaged in lively conversations, jokes and heated arguments that unflinchingly told the story of Arabs (the good, bad and ugly), not only in Canada, but also in Arab countries. When that repeated itself over several visits to the barbershop, I felt that there was a story to be told.

Who decided which topics would be discussed in the film? How much intervention was there on your part?

Nisreen Baker: The topics addressed in the film were taken from the many, many topics I heard the men discuss during their haircuts and shaves as I sat in the waiting room. When it came time to shoot the film, all I asked them to do was to carry on the same conversations they always had at the barbershop, and things flowed from there. My intervention during the shooting was minimal, as I decided to keep the flow of the conversation going, knowing that we would have the chance to select the most interesting parts during editing.

The film takes place in Edmonton, though it could easily take place anywhere in the world. Do you think there’s any significance to the fact that it is Edmonton though? In your opinion, does that add a layer to the film?

Nisreen Baker: In each era in the history of the “New World” countries (Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand), one group of immigrants was considered to be the “newbies”: the Irish, the Italians, the Asians, the East Indians, and the Arabs. Although this group of men serves as a microcosm of Arab communities anywhere, it is very fortunate that we got to film this documentary in Edmonton, as it has one of the oldest Arab communities in North America. Al-Rasheed Mosque in Edmonton is the first mosque in North America.

Additionally, the sub-culture that evolves amongst members of any immigrant community is definitely influenced by the socioeconomic conditions of the city they chose as their home. Edmonton in particular is a vibrant, growing city with relatively high living standards and many economic opportunities. That in itself allows newcomers to succeed, which is the case for the majority of participants in this film. In other areas of Canada, the immigrant experience may not have been as positive due to many factors, especially the difficulty immigrants face in entering the labour market as a means of economic wellbeing.

There was a clear stylistic choice not to interview any of the men directly, but rather to allow the conversation to unfold between them. Why?

Nisreen Baker: The reason for not including interviews is to allow the audience to be engrossed in the conversations without any interruptions that might break the connection this documentary aims to build between the participants and the viewers. As such, not feeling the presence of the camera adds to this intimacy.

What do you hope people will take away from the film?

Nisreen Baker: I hope that people, especially the target audience (mainstream North Americans), will gain a more in-depth understanding of the many facets of Arabs, and also recognize that humans are the same no matter how different they may seem to be, and Arabs are no exception.