Iraqi American filmmaker explores Detroit’s cultural fault lines

Metro Detroit is home to one of the largest Iraqi communities outside the Middle East. Muslims and Chaldeans share streets, shops, and schools here. Together they hold stories of displacement, of wars fought by the United States on their homeland, even as that same nation became their place of safety. Yet that closeness is cleaved by sharp differences, most notably at the ballot box. 

Many Chaldeans, rooted in Catholic tradition and conservative values, have leaned Republican. Muslim Americans, once loyal Democrats, broke away in 2024, frustrated that the Biden administration did not stop the devastation in Gaza. Many instead voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

These political choices are layered with questions of identity, family, and faith. They are the backdrop of "Pomegranate," a film written and directed by Iraqi American author Weam Namou.

The story unfolds during the 2016 election. It follows Niran, a young Muslim refugee who finds herself in a conservative Chaldean Christian neighborhood. Through her eyes, we see the push and pull of trying to belong amid the stereotypes Middle Eastern women face in America.

Namou has spent her career writing about these themes. She has given voice to Iraqi women’s experiences of migration, resilience, and faith. "Pomegranate" carries that work forward. Although the film is set years ago, its questions still feel urgent: How do communities live together when politics and religion pull them apart? How do women escape the boxes sharply drawn out for them?

Namou joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss belonging in America today.

"The Metro" covers local and regional news and current affairs, arts and cultural events and topics, with a commitment to airing perspectives and uncovering stories underreported by mainstream media in Detroit.