MEDIA RELEASE

CSUN Professor’s Look at Comedian’s Life Takes Honors at Film Festival

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Aug. 6, 2008) — Cal State Northridge cinema and television arts professor Thelma Vickroy’s examination of the life of comedian Ahmed Ahmed took top honors last week at the 2008 Action on Film International Film Festival in Pasadena.

Her documentary, "Ahmed, Say Something Funny," was named "Best Comedy Feature," a category that included fiction and non-fiction work, and "Best Documentary-Feature."

Vickroy said she was "blown away" by the honors, especially the award for "Best Comedy Feature."

"I told Ahmed that he should be so proud," Vickroy said. "We didn’t expect to win anything at all. I think it’s a little hard for a documentary to be considered funny, and yet we won. I am thrilled for Ahmed. It’s a great honor for me as well. And then to win ‘Best Documentary’ as well, I was in shock. As I told them that night, other than my children, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my career."

"Ahmed, Say Something Funny" is a portrait-style documentary that tells the sometimes painful story of Ahmed, an Egypt-born American immigrant trying to succeed in a post-9/11 America, despite his family’s resistance to his career choice. Vickroy spent five years chronicling Ahmed’s career from the stages of the Comedy Store to his international tour as part of the stand-up comedy team known as the "Axis of Evil."

The film’s screening at the 2008 Action on Film International Film Festival was also its premier, the first time Vickroy’s documentary was seen by a general audience, and the response overwhelmed her.

"There was a lot of laughter, yet there were also responses to the poignancy of the film. It totally worked," she said. "I think it’s the dream of every filmmaker to sit in a theater while an audience watches their film and to realize that the audience gets it. The audience of this movie got it. It was so gratifying."

Vickroy, who has been an associate professor at Northridge since 2000, heads CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts’ television option. She is an experienced, award-winning producer in both documentary and non-fiction television. Her producer/director credits include "An Evening of Forbidden Books" for PBS and "My Father the President," which was awarded a Cine Eagle and American Film Festival Blue Ribbon. Her documentary, "Extraordinary Ordinary," was considered for an Academy Award in 1999.

"Ahmed, Say Something Funny" is Vickroy’s third "portrait-style" documentary. She is currently scouting subjects for her next film, which she says will probably involve subjects in Washington D.C.