Ik ben Ayaan

The speed at which Ayaan Hirsi Ali's star has risen becomes clear at the beginning of this documentary, when director Eveline van Dijck Hirsi uses Ali as an interpreter for a film about a Somali refugee. It is still 2001, and nobody has heard about her yet. As a result of a daring article in de Volkskrant, Van Dijck decides to capture the development of the Somali politician. This development soon gains momentum, and halfway through the film the first meetings take place in the presence of bodyguards, in Theodor Holman's house, where Theo van Gogh also drops by. In the light of Van Gogh's death and Ayaan's denunciation, the video footage shot by Van Dijck - on which Hirsi Ali often acts surprisingly relaxed and witty - sometimes has a creepy effect. Especially the scenes in which, over a glass of wine, they joke about dying.