This is a story about isolating the one moment where an action can be taken, that has the power to save a life.

STORY

Los Angeles, 1994

Zarah Kessous, daughter of Iraqi-American Jews who immigrated to the US in the 1960s, joined the LAPD in order to serve the people who provided her family with a safe haven.

During an early morning drug raid, a pregnant woman is accidently shot and gives birth to little Ruby. Zarah saves the baby, but can't keep the mother alive. When no further relatives can be located, Zarah adopts the child and raises it as her own.

26 years later, Ruby, following in the foot-steps of her adoptive-mother Zarah, has become a police officer.

One night after her rookie partner is badly injured by a gang-member, Ruby finds herself in the same tragic situation that had led two decades earlier to her birth, and the death of her mother.

Only now the roles are reversed.

This is a story about isolating the one moment where an action can be taken that has the power to save another human being's life.

Based on a true story.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

'Born on the 5th of July' is a psychological thriller about making a difficult decision under the most challenging circumstances:

At night we follow a female police officer into the dark, experiencing with her what it means to choose between letting an armed criminal run free or shooting without an unobstructed view, risking the life of innocent bystanders.

Before coming to the American Film Institute to study, I worked as a TV journalist in the Middle East, covering for BBC Arabic and ARTE the stories of the people trapped in one of the most vicious conflicts in modern history.

I remember one night when driving home, a Scud rocket was fired in the direction of my little rental. We were three people inside the car, all screaming different things while the rocket was coming closer:

• Drive faster!

• Stop the car!

• Pull it from the road!

What I did was stop the car at once, but my door was jammed, I couldn't open it.

While my passengers hid in a ditch, my only option was to sink low in my seat and hope the engine block would protect me from the rocket’s shrapnel.

I was very lucky to survive that day. There truly must be a guardian angel in this universe looking out for me?

Now that I have been granted the privilege to study film-directing at the American Film Institute in West-Hollywood, I would like to give something of value back to the audience. I would like to provide people with the opportunity to experience safely, what it feels like to decide about life and death in the blink of an eye.