Happy Profiling, Regie: Wassan Ali, D 2012, 5 min.

HappyProfiling_Wassan Ali.mp4
https://vimeo.com/665348672

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues.mp4

https://vimeo.com/666723998
LV Michalski

'Happy Profiling' is an answer to letters and emails I got from the Postbank two years ago. The film is about
'terrorist lists' and about how arbitrary security measurements affect people based on what name they have.
Not only are people put on 'terrorist lists' without being heard in a fair trial
beforehand, but also people who have names similar to those on terroristlists are subjected to security
measurements. The film wishes to bring forward a discussion on the legality of 'terrorist lists', and opposes
that names are becoming inherently suspicious.
Political christianity is a threat to my lifestyle. The humanists and the political christians find both my
surnames sound terrorist like and have proclaimed a state of emergency. In the summer of 2010 my brother
visited me in Berlin. During his stay I borrowed money from him. Months later I wanted to pay back my
debt through transferring money to his account in Sweden, but I received a letter from the bank saying:

„Dear Ali, dear Mohammad, dear Mahmudi, dear Hassan, dear Hassani, dear Salim, dear Al-Baqtadi, dear Jaman,
dear Jalal, dear Hadad, dear Talibani, dear Al-Huseini, dear Ahmadi, etc., etc. Due to economic embargos we need to
control money transfers to people who are on terrorist lists or whose names are similar to those on terrorist lists. These
regulations contains names of persons who have been sanctioned by the UN and EU because they have connections to
international terrorism and should not be transferred money, or at least we assume they have connections to
international terrorism. Never mind that people are put on terrorist lists without knowing it and without being tried in a
fair trial beforehand and tough luck that your brother's first name is the most common Arabic, Kurdish, Muslim name
there is. And again tough titty that also your brother's surname is the most common Arabic, Kurdish, Muslim surname
there is. Your brother's names appears on the list five times so you can see that we are just doing our duty. It's easiest if
you send us a copy of his passport. As soon as we can make sure he is not a terrorist we will be happy to complete the
money transfer. Our business politics commits us to high moral and ethical standards and we are sorry if you should
have another impression. Your's sincerely Müller, Schmidt, Schmitt, Schmitz, Schmid without a T, Fischer, Weber, Bauer,
Schäfer, Schröder, Meier, etc..“