First time filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour and his co-director Tim Schwab followed six Montrealers who have one thing in common: they all share the first name Osama. The fact that they share a name that has become so notorious has made each keenly aware of ethnic profiling and the backlash against the Arab-Canadian community in the post-September 11 world. From the launching of the American invasion of Iraq in March, 2003, to the anti-WTO demonstrations in late July of that year, Being Osama offers a look at the evolving lives of Canadians united by their first name and by their experience as Arabs living in Canada.

After the September 11th terrorist attacks, more than 5,000 Arab immigrants were taken into custody by the U.S. Justice Department and held indefinitely on the grounds of national security. Detainees were subject to arbitrary arrest, secret detention, solitary confinement, and deportation. The Justice Department has ensured the invisibility of these cases, by refusing to disclose the names and total number of people detained. Persons of Interest details the lives of twelve detainees and their families. They share their stories, read letters written in jail, re-enact their prison experience, and even sing.