In this miniseries, Yasmeen shares her honest and open reflection about growing up as an Iraqi-American, a “hyphenated American”. This is not a story about politics, or war. Instead, this is a story about what it was like to grow up as a child of immigrants who fled a country due to political instability.
While this miniseries is focused on her story, she also interviews Iraqis who lived through the Gulf Wars in Iraq and later immigrated to the United States. Many Iraqis are still deeply traumatized from living under a dictatorship, and many are paranoid about publicly sharing their narratives with the world as they’ve been punished for doing so for so many years.
Yasmeen takes us on a journey of her inner inquiry and a reconciliation with her inner child, as she questions her place in the greater narrative of what it is to be a hyphenated American.
Hyphenated Journey is a Hakawati production. Written, narrated and directed by Yasmeen Turayhi. Sound design by Karim Beidoun. Cover design by Aya Mobaydeen and inspired by Sue Turayhi. Creatives by Gina Abou Hamad.
Special thanks goes to Sinan Al-Mokhtar and Hamada Zahawi for their courage in sharing their stories.