Project Insight

The AMERICAN HERRO PROJECT is a non-profit (501c3).

The film begins as Herro, an infant, and her family witness horrible bloodshed and are forced to flee Saddam’s Iraq as part of the Kurdish Diaspora and come to America as refugees.

In America, we follow her odyssey—from arriving in North Dakota as a shy, timid, three-year-old refugee girl living in a church family’s basement, to becoming an increasingly bright and confident student and walking the White House halls She delivers her college commencement address, graduates from an Ivy-league graduate school and joins the Foreign Service. Herro’s assignments eventually take her back to Iraq following Saddam’s ouster and her exceptional work in Mosul brings her to the attention of the White House where, at the age 33, she serves as the only Kurdish-American on staff.

Her assignments in the Foreign Service have given her the chance to make a difference both in the U.S. and abroad. In this, her culture, heritage, and family all play an important role in influencing her decision-making and demonstrates that all Americans have the ability to achieve their dreams.

Each day in Herro’s life is a new discovery. Her story is a true immigrant tale, with an amazing sense of hope and opportunity that can only be afforded here in America.

Sharing her American roots in North Dakota, a “plain state” in every sense of the word, filmmaker Kirk Roos became Herro’s first friend. They shared a home in tiny Minot, ND, as toddlers. This intimate portrait of friendship documents Herro’s story from 1976 to today. It explores the quirks of the two cultures that melded their families into one 30 years ago.

The film also explores how Herro's religious and cultural background, as a Muslim and a Kurd, which influenced her unique story and career choice. Herro's truly American involvement, acting for the promotion and protection of refugees, working toward the resolution of the on-going conflict in the Middle East is poignant.

Herro’s devotion to “give back” to a cause she’s been directly involved with since she was born is heart wrenching. It speaks to the soul of all Americans and takes viewers on a journey that could only be borne by someone from such humble, yet dramatic beginnings. It’s a cross between Bend It Like Beckham and The Killing Fields.

Herro Mustafa, one of the country’s most promising young diplomats, is a wonderful testament to the phrase: “Only in America.”

For more information:
Kirk Roos
Communication Corps, Inc.
701-232-4535
701-730-5500 (cell)
www.comm-corps.com

	Herro, her uncle, and Kirk
	Kirk and a Kurdish Minister of Culture