Taqwacore (film)
| Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Omar Majeed |
| Written by | David Oliveras |
| Produced by | EyeSteelFilm Mila Aung-Thwin (producer) Daniel Cross (executive producer) |
| Starring | Michael Muhammad Knight Basim Usmani, Shahjehan Khan, Arjun Ray, Imran Malik (The Kominas) Marwan (of Al Thawra) Koroush (of Vote Hezbollah) Sena (of Secret Trial Five) |
| Cinematography | Mark Ellam Zachary Dylan Fay |
| Edited by | Maxime Chalifoux Omar Majeed |
| Music by | Omar Waqar |
| Distributed by | EyeSteelFilm |
Release date | 19 October 2009 |
Running time | 80 min. |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
- This article is about the Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam documentary;
- For the Taqwacore music movement, see Taqwacore.
- For the book The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight, see The Taqwacores.
Taqwacore (full title Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam) is a 2009 documentary by director Omar Majeed produced by EyeSteelFilm about a number of Taqwacore bands and performers touring the United States and Pakistan. The documentary was filmed during three years 2007 to 2009.
The documentary Taqwacore is one of two films based on on Michael Muhammad Knight's book The Taqwacores. In 2008, the book had been made into a feature film by director Eyad Zahra[1] starring actress Noureen DeWulf as Rabeya, actress Rasika Mathur as Fatima, and actor Bobby Naderi as Yusef. The film will make its premier at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
Appearances
Many characters are featured in the documentary. Main characters include:
- Michael Muhammad Knight, author of 2003 novel The Taqwacores about punk Islam where he imagined a community of Muslim radicals: mohawked Sufis, riot grrrls in burqas with band patches, skinhead Shi’as etc. Knight is American convert to Islam who joins the band in their tour.
- The Kominas members. The Kominas is a Pakistani punk band from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. Members:
- Al-Thawra, heavy metal Arab band from Chicago featuring Marwan
- Diacritical
- Vote Hezbollah, fronted by Kourosh, an Iranian from San Antonio
- Secret Trial Five an all-female Canadian punk rock band fronted by Sena, a Pakistani lesbian from Vancouver
Synopsis
The Pakistani punkers The Kominas have arrived at the last stop of their first USA tour and are celebrating with tourmates. Also appearing are the author Michael Muhammad Knight ("The Taqwacores"), Koroush (Vote Hezbollah), Sena (Secret Trial Five) and Marwan (Al-Thawra). They incite a riot of young hijabi girls at the largest Muslim gathering in North America after Sena takes the stage.
The film then travels with The Kominas accompanied by Michael Muhammad Knight, their guru, to Pakistan, where they bring punk to the streets of Lahore and elsewhere in Pakistan. Michael also begins to reconcile his fundamentalist past with the rebel he has now become.
Festivals
- Vancouver International Film Festival, world premiere
- Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Montreal, Quebec premiere
- Sheffield Doc/Fest, European premiere
- Theatrical release October 19, 2009
Controversy
The film was recently premiered in Lahore by Ammar Aziz, an independent film-maker and Marxist-Leninist activist, who is a crew member of Taqwacore and also featured in the film, that created a controversy in media against the film and Ammar Aziz has been getting death threats. The film is being criticized by religious fundamentalists who want to take "legal" action against the people who were responsible for its making and screening in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
References
- ^ Fulton, Ben. Sundance: American story, Muslim vernacular. The Salt Lake Tribune. 30 Jan. 2010.