Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 05-27-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
What do you think of Keifer Sutherland’s recent comments about 24’s depiction of Muslims?
“In the second season, we worked with the Muslim community, and I know we did a PSA. But, if you want to just take a look at 9/11, they were Muslims. Deal with it. It’s a fact, and Muslim extremists exist, and we have also done Christian right extremists, and we have also done political, Eastern block terrorists, and those who had financial and religious motives — all kinds. We weren’t going to pretend that the 22 hijackers in 9/11 weren’t Muslim. By the same token, I do believe you have a responsibility to say that this is a show about extremes. And I think you have to do whatever you can to make sure that people understand that this is not a commentary on what you believe people of the Muslim faith are doing. There’s a very, very small group, and so we did everything we could to do that, while protecting the right to tell the story that we wanted to tell.”
Tags: keifer sutherland, muslims, 24
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 05-02-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
Born in 1974, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali is an American Muslim Actor. He accepted Islam in his early 20’s during his studies in New York. An accomplished actor, Ali excels in his career while shedding a positive light on Islam. He has appeared as a lead actor in The 4400, and a supporting actor in numerous television shows and movies.
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 04-22-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV, Leaders/Stories
Anisa Wahab (Actress/Musician, Exile Theatre) was born in Kabul in 1957. She became a well-known child star in Afghan television/film and continued for many years prior the Taliban regime. She worked as an actress and commentator for Children’s Radio and TV programs, performed in many TV dramas, films and on stage at the Kabul Theater from 1973 to 1992. She was a children’s singing trainer at Pioneer’s Palace from 1973 to 1982, performed as an actress in Mazar Theater from 1992 to 1994, and in many BBC soap opera dramas. After immigrating to Peshawar, Pakistan, during the Taliban regime, she worked as an actress for the N.B.S.D project (a children’s rights awareness project) in Peshawar in 1999, and the BBC.
Ms. Wahab is a founding member of Exile Theatre and an actress and musician for the company. In 2005, she traveled to Japan and the USA (P-3 visa) with the premiere production of Beyond the Mirror, and served on panels on the Arts in Conflict Zones at several US universities during the company’s two-month tour in New York, Baltimore and Washington DC. She appeared in numerous short films, radio dramas, and TV soap opera dramas. She was also a skilled tambur and tabla percussionist in Afghan and Indian music, a rarity for Afghan women. One of the few women in the theatre field, she continues to be a well-known and widely loved theatre, film and TV personality in Afghanistan. She will be missed…
Watch clips from her performance in “Beyond the Mirror” in New York City:
Tags: anisa wahab, bond st theatre, exile theatre, beyond the mirror
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 04-22-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
When a Qatari company recently announced that it would launch into the movie business with a $150mn feature about the Prophet Mohammed, it reignited debate about the portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the film industry. In this episode of the Riz Khan show can Muslim producers can make Islam mainstream and acceptable on the big screen?
Tags: riz khan, islam in hollywood, al jazeera, kamran pasha
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 04-22-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
The central character in the recent film My Name is Khan is compelled to state again and again, “My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist.” In this discussion, the relationship between cinematic cultures and religious actions and identity is analyzed. How do this film’s voices relate to concerns of personal expression, secularism, and political violence? How does the film engage the politics of religion and race? What is to be made of this film’s origins in India and its portrayal of American physical, social, and religious landscapes, especially in the context of global empire, past and contemporary.
The event is free and open to the public.
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 04-20-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV, Art/Books
In the wake of 9/11, Naif al-Mutawa made what some might consider an unusual career move for a clinical psychologist. He created a comic book. Al-Mutawa, a Kuwaiti with multiple degrees from American universities, wanted a series that could counter the anti-Muslim backlash for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
The 99, as al-Mutawa named his creation, has everything a good comic book needs—evil in the world and superheroes to fight it. Unlike most comics, however, its stories are told in an Islamic context. The superheroes are boys and girls from all over the world, each of whom finds one of 99 stones created after the destruction of an Iraqi library by Genghis Kahn’s descendants. The stones endow the heroes with superpowers based on Allah’s 99 virtues—such qualities as wisdom, healing, destruction, and love.
The comic books’ popularity has grown quickly, and al-Mutawa’s superheroes now have an international audience. On April 26th al-Mutwawa and his company Teshkeel, plan to announce its American debut of the animated series set for this Fall 2010!
Tags: Naif al-Mutawa, The 99
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 04-15-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
Meet Faran Tahir, a Pakistani American actor you may recognize from such blockbuster films as Iron Man and Star Trek. Tahir is a third generation actor. He originally attended UC Berkeley with plans to get a business degree, but ended up creating his own major to pursue acting. He then received a graduate degree from Harvard. Tahir has guest starred on many television shows, including 24, Lost, Chuck, and most recently, Greys Anatomy.
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 04-07-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
This is the movie trailer for “8 Centuries of Muslims in America.” Produced by Muslim News Magazine, this epic documentary is the compelling story of Islam in America from early in the 14th century until the disaster of 9/11. The picture is being hailed for its extraordinary narrative power and its unprecedented scope in rewriting Muslim history in the Americas.
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 04-06-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
You might have seen this game in Rambo III. It is Afghanistan’s national sport “buzkashi”, a game played on horseback that involves dragging a headless animal carcass around a wide open field. Check out the sanitized U.S. debut of this sport:
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 03-31-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
The Infidel, directed by Josh Appignanesi, is a funny new film about faith. Mahmud Nasir (comedian Omid Djalili) may not be the most observant Muslim, but deep down he is a true believer. His life is turned upside down when he learns he was adopted—but most scandalous is that his birth mother was Jewish! And his given name was Solly Shimshillewitz! As Mahmud tumbles into a full-scale identity crisis, a true comedy of religious errors unfolds.
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Are you a Muslim/Middle-Eastern/South Asian actor, musician, singer, comedian, designer, film-maker, journalist/host, or have a special story? Show us what you got!
