1st Muslim Film Fest in New York
The first-ever New York Muslim Film Festival is set to break the stereotypes about Muslims in Western media.
The one-day event will take place at the SVA Theatre in Manhattan on October 11. The event aims to give Muslim filmmakers the opportunity to tell their stories on the world stage in their own unique way.
The festival’s co-founder and director, Nawal Mubin, said, “The foundation of this festival is joy, dialogue, and solidarity. Muslims are a global and diverse community. There is no single Muslim story. Every perspective highlights the diversity of our identities, and every story deserves to be told.”
The one-day festival will feature a total of 12 short films from 7 countries, organisers said. It will feature a mix of genres-documentary, drama, comedy, animation, and experimental. Most notably, most of the films selected are made by women. The films selected for the festival cover a wide range of subjects.
The list includes Justin Mashouf’s documentary ‘$17.74,’ about a former gang member imprisoned since the 1980s expressing solidarity with the people of Gaza; ‘Dad Is Melting,’ a father-son story; ‘Haram Salami,’ a comedy about three generations of Afghan women; ‘Ghosal,’ about a father’s dying wish; and ‘Unqualified,’ a Canadian comedy about the hilarious experiences of a Muslim activist.
In addition, there will be ‘Bukra’, the story of a Syrian refugee child winning a football match, ‘Ya Hanouni’, a French drama about a couple’s longing to hear their child’s first name, ‘Sabr O Shukar’, a Pakistani drama about a child’s dream of getting a bicycle and the story of patience, ‘Sabr o Shukar’, a Saudi fantasy ‘Malika’, the animation ‘My Friend in the Jingle Truck’, the story of a dinosaur-loving child, ‘The Boy with the Dinosaur Head’, and the UK’s experimental project ‘Henna’.
The six-member jury for the New York Muslim Film Festival includes Emmy-winning actor Asif Mandvi, producer Abubakar Khan of the Oscar-nominated Pakistani animated film ‘The Glassworker,’ Arab-American writer and director Darin Hotaite, Lebanese-American director Sarah Mokh, Egyptian-American actor Abubakar Ali, and Watermelon Pictures’ head of production Munir Atallah.
