ULTIMATE CITIZENS premiered at the 2023 Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride. It was a beautiful festival with so much heart. Thanks to generous donations from friends and supporters, our stars – Jamshid, Nyahoak and Pio – traveled with us to Colorado to present the film, and even lead a Frisbee clinic for the audience. It was exciting to finally share the story in three fabulous screenings and see the kids, (now young adults) and Jamshid get so much love from the crowds. They were very popular festival guests, and of course Jamshid is a friend-making machine. They took Telluride by storm! ULTIMATE CITIZENS was honored to be chosen as an official selection in competition, and was one of only three short docs invited to encore screen at the top of the mountain.
Please join us for a work-in-progress film screening AND Ultimate Frisbee clinic. This free family event features the new Ultimate Citizensdocumentary about Seattle’s Hazel Wolf K-8 Ultimate Frisbee champions and their extraordinary coach.
What: Ultimate Citizens Work-In-Progress Film Screening and Frisbee Clinic
When: Saturday, July 16, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Meredith Mathews East Madison YMCA, 1700 23rd Ave. Seattle, WA 98122
Cost: Free and open to the public. Dress to play.
We’ll show some film scenes and follow up with an Ultimate Frisbee clinic. Ultimate Citizens is a Mr. Rogers story for our time, about an Iranian American primary school counselor and ultra-endurance athlete who uses the sport of Ultimate Frisbee to help children find success in Seattle Public Schools. The film, directed by award-winning filmmaker Francine Strickwerda, follows Mr. Jamshid and his team of Ultimate Frisbee champions at Seattle’s Hazel Wolf K-8 on their way to winning the world’s largest youth tournament. Get inspired and let’s play some Ultimate! The event is sponsored by Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, 4Culture, YMCA of Greater Seattle and Top Pot Doughnuts.
More than 125 attendees gathered at Northgate Community Center to enjoy selected film scenes, meet the film’s student stars, and catch up with Mr. Jamshid.
Thanks to everyone who braved one of Seattle’s rainiest days to come to our ULTIMATE CITIZENSFilm & Frisbee event on Dec. 15. So many beautiful, familiar faces, and we made new friends too!
While we’ve been editing, our Frisbee stars have grown up. They’re all at least a foot taller and doing great things in high school. Mr. Jamshid is still the same great human, and the reason we fell in love with this story in the first place.
Special thanks to Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs and 4Culture for sponsoring the event. As filmmakers, it meant a lot to see the crowd react so enthusiastically to the documentary we’ve been working away on for so long. We can’t wait to finish the film and bring this inspiring story to the world.
Work-In-Progress Documentary Screening and Frisbee Clinic Family event features new ULTIMATE CITIZENS documentary about Seattle’s Hazel Wolf K-8 Ultimate Frisbee Champions and their extraordinary coach.
What: ULTIMATE CITIZENS Film Screening and Frisbee Clinic When: Sunday, Dec. 15, 1:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. Where: Northgate Community Center, 10510 5th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98125 Cost: Free. All Welcome! Dress to play.
Please join us for a work-in-progress film screening and AND Ultimate Frisbee clinic! Bring the kids! We’ll show some film scenes and follow up with an Ultimate Frisbee clinic. ULTIMATE CITIZENS is the Mr. Rogers story for our time, about an Iranian American grade school counselor and ultra-endurance athlete who uses the sport of Ultimate Frisbee to help children find success in Seattle Public Schools. The film, directed by Francine Strickwerda, follows Jamshid and his team of Ultimate champions through a healing season of Ultimate at Seattle’s Hazel Wolf K-8. Get inspired by these awesome humans and let’s play some Ultimate! Please come dressed to play.
ULTIMATE CITIZENS: Work-In-Progress Documentary Screening and Frisbee Clinic. Free family event features new ULTIMATE CITIZENS documentary about Seattle’s Hazel Wolf K-8 Ultimate Frisbee Champions and their extraordinary Iranian American Coach.
Selected scenes from ULTIMATE CITIZENS, a new documentary, will be screened as part of a special Ultimate Frisbee clinic with the star of the film on Sunday, Dec. 15, from 1:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Northgate Community Center, 10510 5th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98125. Please dress to play Frisbee after the screening. The event is sponsored by Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 4Culture, Hullabaloo.tv and Flock This Way Films.
ULTIMATE CITIZENS, currently in production, features Seattle treasure Jamshid Khajavi, a 65-year- old grade school counselor and ultra-endurance athlete who uses the sport of Ultimate Frisbee to help children succeed in Seattle Public Schools.
Khajavi is a Mr. Rogers for our time, an immigrant and volunteer coach, who gently encourages students to move beyond hardships. ULTIMATE CITIZENS follows Khajavi and students from Seattle’s Hazel Wolf K-8 School through a winning season in the classroom and on the playing field. Khajavi and film director Francine Strickwerda will be presenting the Dec. 15 Film & Frisbee event.
Nature is key to ULTIMATE CITIZENS’ story of healing, with mountains, water, and blooming cherry trees as the backdrop for students diving to catch swooping Frisbees, and Khajavi’s ultra- endurance biking, running and swimming. ULTIMATE CITIZENS culminates in the thrill of Spring Reign, the world’s largest youth Ultimate Frisbee tournament that takes place annually in Burlington, Washington.
About Francine Strickwerda Francine Strickwerda is an award-winning director of independent documentary films that have been broadcast and streamed on PBS, Showtime, Netflix and Amazon Prime. Her work has been funded by the MacArthur Foundation, Independent Television Service (ITVS), and many others. She is a principal and executive producer at Hullabaloo.tv, a creative video agency serving corporate clients and non-profits. Strickwerda began her storytelling career as a newspaper reporter, and she has a degree in journalism from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University.
