Best Short Documentary Award
Salam Shalom - The Untold Story of a Jewish Family in Pakistan won the ‘Best Short Documentary’ award at the Cross Border Shows Chicago Film Festival, which is the only Muslim film festival in the Midwest.
This recognition is particularly meaningful for a story about a family forced to leave home, the resilience of a woman carrying her memories across borders, and the enduring connections that can transcend political and cultural divides.
How did Salam Shalom come to be?
We were featured on Pehchaan (meaning identity), a podcast that explores the stories of extraordinary Pakistani immigrants living in the U.S. In conversation with host Muhammad Bilal Lakhani, I shared how I first found Hazel during the pandemic, our early conversations, and the five-year journey of bringing her story to the screen.
We also talked about immigration, memory, and the complicated question of what we call home.
Alan Fortunoff Humanitarian Film Award
Hina Ali, director of Salam Shalom, speaking at the award ceremony after accepting the Alan Fortunoff Humanitarian Award.
Salam Shalom - The Untold Story of a Jewish Family in Pakistan wins the Alan Fortunoff Humanitarian Film Award. Presented annually at the 29th Long Island International Film Expo (2026), the award recognizes films that promote humanitarian values and create social impact through storytelling.
The award is named after Alan Fortunoff, a prominent Long Island philanthropist associated with the Fortunoff family and known for his charitable and civic contributions. Alongside his wife Helene, he supported numerous educational and humanitarian initiatives, including the endowment of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University.
Hazel and Hina attending the Long Island International Film Expo 2026.
“When Pakistani filmmaker Hina Ali began researching traces of Jewish life in her home country, she didn’t expect to find much...Then she came across the story of Hazel Selzer Kahan”
“Director and producer Hina Ali, focused on the untold story of the Jews in Pakistan, following Hazel Selzer Kahan and her family’s history. Pakistan became a place of refuge for Kahan and her family while fleeing from Nazi Germany in the mid 1900s.”
“When Pakistani filmmaker Hina Ali started digging into her country’s forgotten Jewish history, she didn’t expect to end up on the North Fork, or to make a lifelong friend.
Enter Hazel Selzer Kahan, an 86-year-old writer living in Mattituck, who just happens to have been born Jewish in Lahore.”