Sam Kadi's THE CITIZEN, Starring Cary Elwes, Premieres at Indy's Heartland Film Festival Tonight, 10/22

3K Pictures announces today that director Sam Kadi's debut drama THE CITIZEN will have its North American Premiere at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana tonight, October 22nd at the AMC Castleton Square 14 theater at 7:15pm.

The film was produced by Kadi, Chris Wyatt (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE) and Alan Noel Vega, with Ameer Kabour executive producing. The Heartland Film Festival started in 1992 as a small event in Indianapolis and has expanded over time to become one of the fastest growing film festivals in the country. Today, the annual film festival is a ten-day event full of independent films, a variety of special events for film enthusiasts of all ages and a one-of-a-kind experience in one of the Midwest's most inviting cities. This year the festival runs from now through October 27th.

THE CITIZEN tells the story of an Arab immigrant named Ibrahim (played by celebrated Egyptian actor Khaled Nabawy from FAIR GAME) who wins the American green card lottery, arriving in New York City on September 10th, 2001. In addition to Nabawy, the film's cast includes Agnes Bruckner (BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE), William Atherton (GHOSTBUSTERS) and Cary Elwes (THE PRINCESS BRIDE).

The script took over three years to write and was co-written by the noted Arab American playwright Samir Younis (BROWNTOWN). Younis was living and working in New York on 9/11, and brought his experiences about the aftermath of that event to bear on the script.

Additionally, the trailer for the film has been released today to the public for the first time on the film's website and Facebook page. To see the trailer, and for additional information about the film, visit THE CITIZEN website at www.thecitizenmovie.com, follow the film on Facebook at facebook.com/TheCitizenMovie and Twitter at Twitter.com/TheCitizenMovie.

Born and raised in Syria, Kadi attended the College of Engineering at the University of Aleppo where he founded the Marya Halab Theater Company. After seven years of theater, he moved to the U.S. in 2000 to pursue a career in the arts and eventually attended the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan, which he graduated from in 2007. Kadi made several short films including the eight-time festival winner RAISED ALONE. THE CITIZEN is Kadi's feature film debut. Kadi was recently recognized by the prestigious foundation Cinema for Peace for raising awareness for human rights issues through film, and was invited to speak before the International Criminal Court at The Hague, The Netherlands on June 16, 2012. Kadi has been featured on numerous international and national television and radio programs including CNN, ART, and NPR.