Actor in 9/11 film denied US entry

Lewis Alsamari  

25 April, 2006

Irish Examiner

By Ian Kilroy, Arts Editor

FACT and fiction appear to have been mixed up by US immigration officials after an Iraqi actor who plays a terrorist in a new film was denied entry to the United States to attend the film’s premiere.

Apparently British-based actor Lewis Alsamari was considered a security risk, although no official reason for his visa refusal was given by the US Embassy in London yesterday.

Mr Alsamari plays the lead terrorist in United 93, the controversial new film about the fourth hijacked plane on September 11, 2001, which went down in Pennsylvania.

The film will premiere at New York’s Tribeca film festival tonight.

“It would be so disappointing not to be able to go, because I have still not seen the film,” Mr Alsamari said yesterday.

He says he thinks he has been denied a visa because he is an Iraqi citizen and was once in the Iraqi army.


United 93 has already caused controversy in the US, with some cinemas pulling the trailer for the film after upset patrons in New York objected saying it was too shocking. It was too soon after the event to make such a film, some argued.

But since the film was screened for relatives of the deceased passengers of the doomed flight, reaction has been largely positive.

Directed by Briton Paul Greengrass, the film’s real-time, realistic approach is reportedly reminiscent of Greengrass’s other recent works: Bloody Sunday (2002) and The Murder of Steven Lawrence (1999).

One of the crucial questions critics will be looking forward to is how Greengrass depicts the final fate of United Airlines flight 93.

Did certain heroic passengers successfully get control of the plane and gain access to the cockpit after they fought back against the hijackers, or did the flight have some other mysterious fate?

The US public can see Greengrass’s view for themselves this Friday, when the film goes on general release stateside. We’ll have to wait until next September to see the movie, however.


Iraqi United 93 Actor: U.S. Won't Let Me In

April 21, 2006

By Stephen M. Silverman


Iraqi actor Lewis Alsamari, who plays a hijacker in a new movie United 93 – about the real-life doomed airliner on 9/11 – has been denied entry into the U.S. to attend the film's premiere at next week's Tribeca Film Festival in New York, he tells a British newspaper.

Alsamari, 30, has lived in Britain since 1995. Surmising why he's being kept out of America, he tells London's Evening Standard, "I think this was because I am still an Iraqi citizen and fought in the army – but that was only because I was forced to."

The actor says he has not yet seen the film. "It would be so disappointing not to be able to go (to the premiere). I have only seen footage and it would have been amazing to be in New York for the premiere."

Alsamari says he escaped from the Iraqi army in 1993 and stayed in neighboring Jordan for about two years. In 1995, he sought asylum in Britain, and reportedly obtained it in 1998.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in London says she knew of the situation but declined comment on the status of Alsamari's application to travel to New York, Reuters reports.

British director Paul Greengrass's film about the hijacked plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field has caused controversy over whether it's appropriate to portray the events onscreen so soon after the tragedy. Some New York theaters have yanked the trailer after complaints that scenes from the film were upsetting to viewers.


September 11 families distraught at hijack film premier

April 26,2006

Irish Examiner

Families of September 11 victims on the hijacked United Airlines flight 93 saw their loved ones’ plight recreated on the big screen today at an emotionally charged film premiere.

The agonising sound of distraught relatives sobbing, wailing and moaning filled Manhattan’s Ziegfeld Theatre as the audience for United 93 sat mesmerised by the devastating closing sequence of the plane hurtling towards the ground.

The controversial film, by British director Paul Greengrass, recounts how passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers in a bid to retake the aircraft, preventing it from reaching its target.

It opened the Tribeca Film Festival, which was founded in 2002 by Hollywood star Robert De Niro to rejuvenate lower Manhattan in the wake of the atrocities there the year before.

Earlier this year a New York cinema pulled the film’s trailer after it upset viewers, sparking heated debate about whether it was appropriate to portray such events so soon after they happened.

But the families of the doomed flight’s 40 passengers and crew who attended the premiere – some to see the movie for the first time – were supportive of the project despite the obvious pain it caused.

Throughout the screening the audience’s instinctively emotional reactions were on clear display.

They sat in stunned silence after footage of the second plane hitting the World Trade Centre was shown, and gasped when the brutal hijacking scenes began.

Muffled sobs could be heard all around the cinema as the screen went dark at the film’s conclusion, but it was from the section where the families were seated together that the most harrowing sounds came.

The relatives had been given a standing ovation by the rest of the audience before the film began, with De Niro telling them it was a story that honoured “bravery and sacrifice“.

Greengrass said it was “humbling” to bring his movie to New York.

The film juxtaposes the Flight 93 story with that of the air traffic controllers watching with horror as a total of four planes were seized and crashed by terrorists.

American Airlines Flight 11 smashed into the north tower of the World Trade Centre, while United Airlines 175 hit the south tower and United 77 went down at the Pentagon.

Officials believe Flight 93 was headed for the White House or the Capitol.

Families of the dead co-operated in the film’s production, giving Greengrass detailed information about their loved ones, such as what clothes they wore and even what sort of sweets they might have been eating.


Dina Burnett, whose husband Tom called her four times from the plane before it crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, and is portrayed in the film as leading the fightback against the hijackers, was among those seeing the movie for the first time.

“During our third phone call he told me he was putting a plan together to take the airplane back,” Mrs Burnett explained before the screening.

She said she was nervous about seeing the film, but believed that with the fifth anniversary of the attacks approaching, now was the right time to have made it.

“It’s a great opportunity for each of us to be reminded what we experienced on September 11 and to be reminded most of all of the heroism that was displayed that day,” she said.

Nancy Bernstein, whose brother-in-law Mark “Mickey” Rothenberg was also on the flight, had seen the film a few weeks ago and said she approved, although it had been difficult to watch.

“It’s extremely intense,” she said.

“We thought it was as accurate as it could be – a very, very good job.

“I had to see it, I think it’s important, like Schindler’s List is important to see.

“It’s the way you remember what happened.”

De Niro said he was touched by the families’ presence.

“Your participation means a lot,” he added.

Greengrass told the audience: “Remembering is painful, it’s difficult, but it can be inspiring and it can give wisdom.”

Gordon Felt, whose brother Ed was also a passenger, paid tribute to the director for his work with relatives.

“Although it is extremely difficult to relive the events of 9/11, and it recreates some vividly horrific impressions of that day, I would like to thank Paul Greengrass,” Mr Felt said.

“Paul and his team are truly an amazing group of people.”

Also in the audience was New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

“It was powerful, gripping and very well done,” he said.

“You could see that from the reaction – you never see a reaction like that.”

Nevertheless, he added: “I can understand why some people wouldn’t want to see it.”

Distributor Universal Pictures is to donate 10% of its takings on the opening weekend to the Flight 93 National Memorial Fund.