Producer/Director David Felix Sutcliffe and produer Su Kim’s documentary, Adama, about a 16 year-old East Harlem teen suspected of connections to terrorism, which ran on public television networks, and was online for a limited time thanks to ITVS and WORLD Compass, is now back online permanently it appears for you to watch in full, if you missed it the last time. 

Here’s the full story on Adama:

On March 24th, 2005, Adama Bah, a 16-year-old Muslim girl, awoke at dawn to discover nearly a dozen armed government agents inside her family’s apartment in East Harlem. She was arrested and taken to a maximum-security juvenile detention center in Pennsylvania. An FBI document leaked to the press mysteriously identified Adama as a “potential” suicide bomber and an “imminent threat to the security of the United States.” After six weeks of public protest and media scrutiny, Adama was released with an ankle bracelet and a deportation order, but no terrorist charges. Still traumatized by the experience of her detention, Adama must drop out of high school and support her four younger siblings when her father is deported to Guinea, Africa. Using intimate verité footage, Adama captures the extreme pressures bearing down on this young Muslim girl and her desperate efforts to keep her family from unraveling.

First, check out the trailer below, and then watch the riveting film in its entirety – all 55 minutes of it – on the director’s Vimeo page by clicking HERE.

The new documentary Adama, by filmmakers David Felix Sutcliffe and Su Kim, examines why the FBI picked up a 16-year-old Muslim girl from Harlem on suspicion of being a potential suicide bomber. ITVS Broadcast and Distribution Manager Kate Sullivan Green spoke with director David Felix Sutcliffe about the film — which airs this Sunday, November 6 on the WORLD Channel and will stream freely for 30 days after the broadcast on worldcompass.org.

How did you first hear about Adama’s story? 

DAVID: Adama had been a student at The Harlem Children’s Zone where I was teaching video production…We started talking and I thought if anyone needs to pick up a camera and tell a story, it’s her.  We gave her a camera but because there was so much pressure to take care of the family since her father was detained as well, she didn’t have time to make the film.  At that point I asked her if I could take on the filmmaker role and that’s how it began.

How is Adama and her family doing now?

DAVID: They are doing surprisingly well considering everything.  After the film was completed, the ACLU filed a lawsuit to get Adama off the no fly list and several months later she was safe to fly. She was also recently featured in McSweeney’s “Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post-9/11 Injustice” edited by Alia Malek. The book is a collection of stories and interviews with Adama and other individuals who have similar stories. It was great for her to participate in that and develop a sense of community around what she went through.

As for her family, it’s been a tough time for them, I don’t know if they will they ever be able to heal.  The good news is that her father’s lawyers were able to secure his return to the country so he has been back with his family since June 2011.

What do you hope viewers learn from your film?

DAVID: One is that I want the film to provide an emotional reference point so people can understand how devastating our immigration policies have been for families in the United States.  At the end of 2011, over 400,000 will have been deported this year.  Hopefully this film will draw light on that and the impact that has on the family members of those who are deported.

The second is that we inspire people to question the terrorist cases we see in the news.  Adama’s story is unique because of her age and gender, but there have been many other cases involving young men that were not so carefully examined.

What’s your favorite part of the production process?

DAVID: This is my first film but so far my favorite has been spending time with Adama and her family.  It has changed my life.  They opened their homes and their lives to me and I am incredibly grateful for that.  I am also very grateful to all the people who have supported us throughout the process — friends, family, other filmmakers.

What’s a great piece of advice you received while making this film?

DAVID: Early on, I was becoming overwhelmed on how to place the story with statistics and information [on immigration] and our Executive Producer Hugo Perez said, “Numbers don’t move people, stories move people. That’s what changes hearts and minds.”  I hope that Adama’s story moves people enough to go out there and educate themselves on how many families are going through this.  Without her story those numbers mean nothing.