Norah Shapiro, Ilhan Omar – Time for Ilhan

April 25, 2018

Norah Shapiro, Ilhan Omar - Time for Ilhan fredfilmradio

Podcast | Download

PODCAST| Samantha Sartori interviews Norah Shapiro and Ilhan Omar, director and protagonist of the film Time for Ilhan, at the Tribeca Film Festival 2018.

Film festivals have lately been taking on activist issues of gender and race. Steven Zeitchik wrote for the Washington Post: “Robert De Niro, worried about Trump, is making his festival the most activist yet”. We met Norah Shapiro and Ilhan Omar, at Tribeca Film Festival, for the world premiere of Time for Ilhan. The movie presents one of the most moving stories in recent political history. In 2016 Ilhan Omar was elected as the Minnesota House Representative for District 60B, making her the highest-elected Somali-American public official in the United States and the first Somali-American State Legislator.

Time for Ilhan: Ilhan Omar, a young, hijab-wearing mother of three, takes on two formidable opponents in a highly contested race for a seat in the Minnesota State Legislature. If successful, she will become the first Somali-American lawmaker in the United States. Similar to the classic tale of David and Goliath, Omar, who is up against a 43-year incumbent, is the “outsider”- a Muslim, refugee, woman of color – who seeks to challenge the party’s status quo while simultaneously defying the gender norms within her own Muslim community. Time for Ilhan shadows Ilhan and her scrappy group of dedicated campaign staffers throughout the entire campaign’s dramatic uphill battle. A fresh take on the old story of the American Dream, the film offers an inspiring, stereotype-busting portrait of a rising political star and a vision of what is truly possible for women and New Americans in politics today.

To discover more about the film, click here.

Written by: fredfilmradio

Ilhan Omar Norah Shapiro Samantha Sartori Spotlight Documentary Time for Ilhan

Guest

Ilhan Omar Norah Shapiro Samantha Sartori

Film

Time for Ilhan

Festival

Tribeca Film Festival

Rate it

Channel posts

The winners of the European Film Awards 2026 © Sebastian Gabsch.

News

European Film Awards 2026 winners: Sentimental Value leads the night

January 19, 2026

Sentimental Value tops the European Film Awards 2026 with six prizes, as Berlin hosts a politically attentive ceremony reshaped for awards season visibility.