Detroit Unleaded
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Kick Out the Jams
Ten years ago, without a sliver of experience, the Lebanese-born, Detroit-based Rola Nashef conceived what would become the short precursor to her acclaimed 2012 independent feature Detroit Unleaded. She had the idea to relate the quotidian trials of an Arab-American man working behind bulletproof glass at an inner-city filling station and had to figure out how to do it. “The short script,” she claims, “was the first time I’d written anything in my life.” After making the short, she spent a year with it on the festival circuit and another distributing it to universities for educational purposes, bucking the notion […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Apr 28, 2015 -
Detroit Unleaded Director Rola Nashef on the Road to Distribution
“We were getting great feedback, and we thought, ‘Okay, it’s just a couple weeks now until we sell the film! It’s going to sell any second!’” Rola Nashef’s reflection on the waiting period that followed the world premiere of Detroit Unleaded at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival is likely an all too familiar affair. For her feature debut, Nashef and her team thought they had hit the jackpot: acceptance to a prestigious festival, attended by buyers aplenty, and rapturous responses from sold-out audiences. However, the realities of selling the film, a romantic comedy with an Arab-American ensemble cast, set […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Nov 22, 2013 -
2012 Dubai International Film Festival Marks a Pioneering Year for Arab Cinema
It’s difficult to walk around Dubai without being in constant awe of one’s surroundings. The modern city is nothing short of incredible. Built from the ground up within the last 40 years, a main argument it is using to win a World Expo bid in 2020, Dubai seems to boast the biggest and best in the world whether it’s fountains, skyscrapers or gold-plated flag poles. And when it comes to all things grand, the Dubai International Film Festival is no exception. Last year’s festival was taken over by Hollywood with the premiere of Mission: Impossible 4, a film complete with […]
by Ariston Anderson on Dec 19, 2012 -
25 NEW FACES: “DETROIT UNLEADED”‘S ROLA NASHEF
Originally published in the Summer 2011 issue. Detroit Unleaded is nominated for Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers “Live the Dream” Grant. When South Lebanon-born writer-director Rola Nashef started thinking about her film, Detroit Unleaded, there wasn’t much of a film scene in her home state of Michigan, independent or studio. Now, after several years of tax incentives and high-profile productions, she laughs, “I go to restaurants and hear people talking about their scripts.” But Nashef was inspired by Detroit long before the state’s recent production boom. The city didn’t just provide her debut feature’s location, but also its subject […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 17, 2011
