By Erik Higgins, Artistic Director (ehiggins@NebraskaMusicFest.org) & Brian Seifferlein (bseiffe2@lps.org)
“Hasan for City Council!”
Hasan for City Council! It’s the end of the ‘Cultures in the Crossfade’ screening at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center and someone in the crowd yells out, “Hasan for City Council!” Hasan, who has been in front of the crowd after playing music and speaking about the documentary he was featured in, just smiles shyly.
Hasan Khalil is something of a cultural icon: barbershop owner, musician, youth and community advocate. This night, it turns out, is a celebration of his perspective as well as a tribute to the city of Lincoln. The documentary, ‘Cultures in the Crossfade,’ was filmed in Hasan’s barbershop but came tonight via Los Angeles. Josh Kun, USC professor and film producer sees Lincoln as a microcosm of the United States. He turned his lens on Hasan to examine the cultural voices in the U.S. Hasan grew up in a refugee camp in Syria after his family was forced to flee from Iraq.
After 15 years in Syria, Hasan emigrated to Buffalo, N.Y. before coming to Lincoln. In Lincoln, Hasan has made a home; raising a family, running a business and playing music with people from all over. The documentary introduces us to Hasan and to Tye, a long-time Lincoln drummer who is known for hardcore, metal beats. ‘Cultures in the Crossfade’ examines Hasan’s and Tye’s relationship – two people from wildly different backgrounds – and how music has no time for the widening cultural gap in the U.S.
Tye spoke to the room after the screening, “I was one of those guys, ‘This is my country. Whatever you’re thinking about me right now, that’s how I was. I’m that guy.’
The relationship of Hasan and Tye, beautifully witnessed in Kun’s film and in the discussions and music performance after the screening was hopeful and celebratory. All of it showcasing what Kun says Lincoln has to offer to the rest of the country: an example.
