Salaam Dunk

Synopsis

The film follows the women's basketball team of the The American University of Iraq – Sulaimani (AUIS) for a full academic year. The players discover what it means to be students, athletes and friends in the difficult political, economic, cultural and ethnic/sectarian divide, and how basketball unites them around a game. The film follows the lives of some of the AUIS' woman basketball players, notably Laylan (team captain), Enji, Ola and Safa, and their basketball coach Ryan Bubalo, who is the university's contractual English language teacher. The film is a testament to the perseverance of a handful of young Iraqi women, and is a story of triumph in the face of chaos and adversity.

Reception and awards

The film gained mostly positive reviews. It also became part of the Nike Jordans Rise Above campaign, which featured basketball team captain Laylan in a five-minute presentation.

The film was an official selection at various festivals, including:

Doha Tribeca flew the entire basketball team (17 young women) from Iraq to Doha for the screening of the film, where they met their previous coach Ryan Bubalo, who had flown in from the US to attend the screening.

Salaam Dunk won several awards at film festivals: