A Dream in Doubt

Premieres September 19 at 6 p.m.

An immigrant story of survival, “A Dream in Doubt” focuses on Sikh Americans living in Phoenix, Arizona, a close-knit community of families who experienced a wave of frightening hate crimes in the aftermath of 9/11.

Rana Singh Sodhi, a thirty-six-year-old Indian immigrant, finds his life forever altered by the 9/11 terror attacks, not because he knew someone who died in the rubble, but because his turban and beard became symbols of the terrorists who attacked America. Rana’s eldest brother, Balbir — who also wore a turban and beard — was America’s first post-9/11 hate crime murder victim, gunned down at his gas station by a man who claimed he was rooting out a terrorist.

As if one murder was not enough, Rana’s next eldest brother, Sukhpal, was shot and killed in mysterious circumstances less than a year later. The events captured in “A Dream in Doubt” show the almost daily horrors the Sikh community live with as misunderstood Americans.  Yet Rana relies on his belief in the American values of freedom, self-reliance, equality and protection of the weak — values which also mirror Sikh teachings — to carry him through injustices.

By following Rana’s attempts to ensure that justice is served in his brothers’ murders,  “A Dream in Doubt” tells a uniquely personal story of tragedy, family connection, community and an American Dream that is in danger of slipping away. In the end, this moving portrait of one man’s odyssey from persecution in India to embracing America as his homeland proves that courage and hope have the power to overcome hate.