Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath, an independent documentary film that chronicles a student's cross-country journey in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, will make its world premiere in Phoenix on Thursday.


The premiere honors the five-year memorial of the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh man who was killed in Arizona in the nation's first "retribution" murder after 9/11. Hosted by the Phoenix Sikh community, the screening begins at 6 p.m. at Carpenter's Hall, 4547 W. McDowell Rd., followed by a reception and dinner provided by the Sodhi family. The premiere launches the film on a national tour this fall to New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and Sacramento, as well as London for a United Kingdom premiere.

Directed by Sharat Raju, Divided We Fall follows [DNSI's] Valarie Kaur in the days and months after the 2001 terrorist attacks as she drove across America with a video camera, interviewing victims of hate violence. The film examines Sodhi's life and murder as part of a wider exploration of who counts as "American" in times of national crisis. [Link]