Storytelling for the Screen: The Citizen

William Atherton’s career has spanned motion pictures, Broadway, and television. He first achieved international recognition as the leading man in Steven Spielberg’s debut feature The Sugarland Express, and next starred in John Schlesinger’s The Day of the Locust, Robert Wise’s The Hindenburg, and Richard Brooks’ Looking for Mr. Goodbar. He is known worldwide for what have become his signature film characters: the television reporter Dick Thornburg in the action blockbusters Die Hard and Die Hard 2, the EPA official Walter Peck in Ghostbusters, the conniving Professor Jerry Hathaway in Real Genius, and mad scientist Dr. Noah Faulkner in Bio-Dome.

On television, he has starred in numerous miniseries including the classic western Centennial, and headed the all-star cast in Malibu. On the stage, Atherton has created roles on and off Broadway for many of America’s leading playwrights, including the title role in Joseph Papp’s original production of David Rabe’s The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, the role of Ronnie in John Guare’s The House of Blue Leaves, and Bing Ring Ling in his Rich and Famous. He also starred in the Broadway premiere of Arthur Miller’s The American Clock and the Tony-winning revival of Herman Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. For his work on the stage, he has received the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Circle Critics Award, the Theatre World Award, and nominations for an Obie and Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award.

Sam Kadi is an award-winning filmmaker based in Santa Barbara, California. Sam is the director, writer and producer of the critically acclaimed feature drama The Citizen, which won multiple awards and was named one of the “Best 10 Films of 2013” by Examiner.com. Sam’s recent warzone documentary Little Gandhi was an Official Selection for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2017 Oscars. He is the producer of the 2023 Oscar-shortlisted feature animation film Lamya’s Poem, which premiered at the 60th Annecy Film Festival (France). He has been recognized by the prestigious Cinema For Peace organization for raising awareness of human rights issues through film, and was asked to speak on the same subject before the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands. Sam is a TEDx speaker, a juror for multiple film festivals, a member of the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood), and a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), where he serves on the Guild Asian American committee.

Juan Campo specializes in the comparative study of Islam and religious spatialities, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia. Professor Campo’s book The Other Sides of Paradise: Explorations in the Religious Meanings of Domestic Space in Islam won the American Academy of Religion’s Award for Excellence in 1991. His book The Encyclopedia of Islam (Facts on File, 2009, 2d ed. 2016), a one-volume reference work for students and the reading public, received a “Best of Reference” award from the New York Public Library in 2010. He is currently working on a project entitled Pilgrimages in Modernity—a comparative study of Muslim, Hindu, and Christian mass pilgrimages in the modern world.