FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION

"Ultimate Citizens"

7 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Page Hall, UAlbany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203
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Free parking. Free and open to the public.

(United States, 2024, 52 minutes, color)​

Post-film Q&A will feature director Francine Strickwerda (additional speakers to be determined)

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In "Ultimate Citizens," Jamshid is an Iranian who came to study in 1970’s America, and due to the Revolution, never went “home.” As a guidance counselor in Seattle Public Schools, Jamshid’s best work takes place on the playing field with “his kids,” the children of refugees and immigrants. Their parents are in the grips of their own struggles to make a living and a home in a strange land. Mr. Jamshid is the charismatic, fiery, funny human with a Frisbee in hand, who shows that love wins on the field, off the field, at home with family, or boldly forging a new community, in a new country - one kid, chicken, ultra-endurance race, and friend at a time.

As a school counselor for nearly 40 years, Jamshid Khajavi uses the outdoors, play, and the sport of Ultimate Frisbee to help children find healing and belonging. Born in Tehran, Iran, Jamshid immigrated to the U.S. in 1977 where he received an MBA. After six long months working in an accounting firm, Khajavi quit to pursue a doctorate in education - eventually leading him to become a school counselor working with deaf children in San Diego.

Khajavi moved to Seattle Public Schools in 1994 where he is known for his outstanding work with immigrants and refugees. An ultra-endurance athlete who’s run 57 official 100-mile races, he swam the Catalina Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, and around New York’s Manhattan Island -- all numerous times, and he’s a three-time grand slam winner of ultra-running. Now retired from counseling, Khajavi cultivates community at festival screenings of "Ultimate Citizens," the award-winning documentary about his life, and while endurance racing and playing pickle ball every day.