# Any update on Merhan Nasseri ?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-update-on-merhan-nasseri/53326>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [February 6, 2001, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-update-on-merhan-nasseri/53326 "2001-02-06T07:24:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![AColbeck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@AColbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AColbeck)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-update-on-merhan-nasseri/53326/1 "2001-02-06T07:24:27Z")

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… You know, Sir Alfred, the guy stuck at charles de Gaulle Airport for 12 years.

There was a flurry of news in August 1999 that (having recently done a web search) looked very incestuous. Cecil hit all the important stuff with the August 1999 column and updated it for September 1999.

[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990820.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990820.html)

But what’s happened since then!?

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**Author:** ![AColbeck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@AColbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AColbeck)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-update-on-merhan-nasseri/53326/2 "2001-02-06T07:32:51Z")

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Er, any updates besides this article:

[http://www.thisisbradford.co.uk/archive/2000/10/26/brad\_news06.int.html](http://www.thisisbradford.co.uk/archive/2000/10/26/brad_news06.int.html)

Which I neglected to include in the first post.

p.s. The message board did not let me modify the original post.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-update-on-merhan-nasseri/53326/3 "2001-02-06T15:16:21Z")

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Welcome to the SDMB AColbeck! I e-mailed the author of the article to which you provided a link, and also the person filming the documentary whose e-mail address was provided in the article. If I hear anything back I’ll post it here.

As far as modifying the original post, that feature is disabled at the SDMB.

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-update-on-merhan-nasseri/53326/4 "2001-02-06T15:24:45Z")

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Yet more proof, if any was needed, at the sometimes remarkably different “take” on life exhibited by Americans and Europeans. I read the column and thought, “Gee, what a goofy red tape snafu, poor guy.” Evidently Europeans heard the story and thought, “Ah, those bastard immigration authorities, discriminating against this poor refugee.”

And so now somebody’s making a movie out of him, slanting it towards the “international symbol in the 1990s of Europe’s hardline stance against immigrants” aspect? Well, huh. I think we’re talking Sundance–if they’re lucky.

> [@](#):
>
> Mr Hugo said: "We hope the film will be released next Spring and we want to take it to the Cannes film festival.

And that was last October.

Doing Google searches, looking for the movie:

“Holy Cow Productions”–none of them sounds like a film production company.

“Paul Hugo”–no hits.

“Gavin Emerson”–lots of hits, all to do with _Ratcatcher_, no mention of a new documentary on Mr. Alfred.

I’d say the project is stalled out somewhere, so the answer to your request for news is basically, “There is no news.”