"Whose Children Are These?" (Clip) | English
(28 min.; Release Year: 2004)


"Whose Children Are These?" provides a gripping view into the lives of three Muslim teenagers impacted by domestic national security measures. One such program, instituted after September 11, 2001, "Special Registration," required male non-citizens, as young as 16 from 25 countries, to register with the Department of Justice. Of those who registered, nearly 14,000 men were deported.

The film features Navila, an honors student who fought to have her father released from detention; Sarfaraz, a popular basketball player who confronts pending deportation; and Hager, a young woman who faces bias and is spurred into activism as a result.

Each of these young people comes from one of the twenty five countries profiled by the Special Registration program (Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Egypt).



** Winner, Best Documentary,
4th Annual Indian Diaspora Film Festival, New York, 2004
** Winner, Best Documentary,
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, 2005
** Winner, Best Director for a Short Documentary,
Brooklyn Arts Council Int'l Film Festival, 2005
** Official Selection, Documentary Shorts,
Independent Feature Film Market (IFFM), 2005
** Official Selection,
Doc Fortnight, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, 2006
** Selected Film for Young Adults,
Young Adult Library Services Association, ALA, Chicago, 2007
** Nominee, Best Independent Mini-Documentary,
Black Reel Awards, Washington, DC, 2007



"Whose Children Are These?"

© 2004

Theresa Thanjan

Maharani Productions