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Film Festival

The Islamic Society of North America invites films and/or documentaries for its Annual Islamic Film Festival to be held at the 48th Annual ISNA Convention in Rosemont, IL. The film festival provides a platform for filmmakers to showcase and present their work to the convention attendees.

Documentaries, feature films, short films, animated films etc are featured that explore the diverse images of Muslims and reflect Islamic history, values, societal issues, ethics, morals, and more.

If you would like to participate, please send registration form, a brief synopsis and a copy of your film to:

2011 Film Festival Movies:

FRIDAY JULY 1, 2011


All I Wanna Do

Shows the dreams of 48 year old Simohamed who works as a parking guard and his 17 year old son Ayoub, who acts in Hollywood films such as “Charlie Wilson’s War”. When Ayoub’s dreams of going to Hollywood are dashed he turns to music and forms a hip hop group with his father leaving his slum. A journey of a dad trying to fulfill his son’s dream of rapping one day.


Odd Number

Rashaad Adendorf was determined not to join a gang. Eventually one day he got caught in crossfire and was flung into a world of hatred, violence, and murder. Gangsters prey on their children, get themselves addicted to drugs, and encourage themselves to perform petty crimes. Soon Rashaad was a gangster. How can Rashaad escape when his whole world is controlled by the gangsters? Can he rebuild his life after what he has done to others? Rashaad reveals his life about ganglands of Cape Town and how he suffered through harsh times.


Encountered on Saffron Agenda

This documentary is mainly about an investigation of alleged encounters of four cases happened in Gujarat of Sadik Jamal, Ishrat Jahan, Javed Sheikh, and Shrabuddin Shaeikh. Different scholars talk about how the encounters happen and where they happened. Some believed that some of the deaths happened from natural deaths and some taught it was suicide but in reality these political leaders were assassinated. “Encountered on Saffron Agenda” goes in depth of how the encounters took place.




Mooz-Lum

A story about a boy who goes through different struggles being known as a Muslim. His dad always wanted him to be a perfect Muslim like him.  Ever since elementary school he was teased about his religion and his name. Since then he was scared of being called a Muslim. When he went to collage he started facing discrimination all over again. His father recommended a room to be shared with a Muslim boy. In people’s eyes he was seen as a threat. This story shows how a group of Muslim kids face challenges in a young age and how they get through them. A movie that is definitely meant to be watched! 

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SATURDAY JULY 2, 2011



David

“David” is about an eleven year old Muslim boy growing up in Brooklyn. As the son of the Imam of the local mosque, he has to juggle his father’s high exceptions, the dynamics of a conservative family, and being different-even form his peers in the Muslim community. An innocent act to return the Jewish Holy book to some kids turns into a mistake when he starts lying to them about him being Jewish to fit in. While working together on a summer project he gets drawn to complicated situations even though he had good intentions. When the Jewish boys discover that Daud has lied to them, his world is shattered, and he is left alone, struggling to come to terms with his place in the world.



The Last Message of God


Michael was born and has been living in New York when he starts to question his life about the meanings of things. He wants to figure out, Why God created us and just what is the meaning of life? Michael decided to learn about different religions and see what each one promotes. After learning about different religions he came to Islam. Learning about Islam he led himself to the Mecca. At Mecca he learns that God wanted al l of us to be equal because if we are equal to each other then there would be no wars and there would be no hate in the world.


Fordson – faith, Fasting, Football

'Fordson' is a feature length documentary film that follows four talented high school football players from Dearborn Michigan as they gear up for their big senior year rivalry game during the last ten days of Ramadan, a month when Muslims traditionally fast every day from sunrise to sundown.
The film begins on September 11, 2009 and concludes at the end of Ramadan ten days later. The story is set against the backdrop of the stunningly beautiful Fordson High School, a public high school built by Henry Ford in 1922, which was once all white, but now boasts a 98% Arab population. As our team readies itself to play its affluent, cross town rival, we unearth the adversity faced by a community that is desperately holding onto its Islamic faith while struggling to gain acceptance in post 9-11 America.
'Fordson' documents not only the players' outer struggle to overcome the hunger and thirst of fasting as they prepare for the big game, but also their inner struggle to reconcile their Arab heritage with their American birthright. It is an inspirational story of an immigrant community's resilience, that attempts to answer the question, 'Who is an American?'
Through the eyes of the team, their coaches, and their fans, we get an unprecedented glimpse inside the lives of a community that is home to the largest concentration of Arabs in any city outside of the Middle East, and their determination to hold on to the American Dream.


The Death of the Imam

The death of the Imam talks about how an imam was killed in a warehouse because it is said that he was armed with a gun when he was shot by the police. Imam Luqman Abdullah was a poor man who lived in a small neighborhood as a cab driver. All over the news it was released that a Muslim leader, Imam Luqman Abdullah, was shot 21 times and was found dead in a warehouse. People start to protest that the shootings and the releasing of the dog on the imam were uncalled for because he was a peaceful person. The police says that they didn’t really have an option but others say there were more options than killing him.


I am here

Shows the stereotypes Muslim women have to deal with everyday and the struggles they face while wearing a hijab. It shows how they are seem to be invisible in front of everybody but they are there. That’s where the title comes along saying “I am Here”.

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SUNDAY JULY 3, 2011


Lost Found

This documentary talks about the rise and transition of Elijah Muhammad’s nation of Islam. A movement that challenged black people to reclaim their lost identity. As Americans, both black and white, sacrificed life and property to end segregation, Elijah Muhammad told Black to “stop begging white men”. While Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali exemplified the uncompromising stance that the Nation of Islam maintained, the movement would soon be heading for an abrupt change. Soon upon Elijah’s death, did the movement fall into leadership crissi or did the original members progress towards universal humanity?



Close to Paradise

A Catholic- jewish collage student goes on a spiritual quest to find faith. She explores all faiths and tries Buddhism bit is not at peace. Laura’s family has jewish roots and a strong Catholic faith. When her parents divorce, she looks for spirituality in different faiths. She tries Buddhism, but finds true peace in Islam. She struggles to get her family to accept her new found faith. At last she converts to Islam and finds happiness inside of her.


Daud

10 year old religious Muslim boy wants to play baseball like every other kid in the block but he finds it very hard to fit in. Then he realizes that if he changed the way he looked and looked more similar to how they look then he would have better chances of fitting in. Soon after changing his looks he learns that it is not so easy to be accepted in the society.




The Secret of Happiness

This movie talks about what the hijab really means to women. The hijab represents modesty, union, and every Muslim women around the world. The women who have been wearing the hijab since they were young don’t regret it a bit. It shows that Muslim women with hijab can have just as much fun as any other woman in this world. They are no less. That is the secret of happiness for them.


Jannati


The film is about a young man named Adam. He became a hafiz of the Quran at a young age and enjoyed learning about his religion. Eventually his parents grew apart and his grief of losing his mother made Adam neglect his religion. Everyday he would wake up, wash, got to work, visit the night lub with friends, and go to bed. Soon his life became a loop. One day a neighbor moves next door and starts playing the Quran loudly on their CD player, waking him up early. This ruins his “loop” and begins to engage him.


The Blessed Tree

Tells the story of meeting between the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and Christian monk named Bahira. The meeting happened in the shade of a tree. 14 years later the same tree was discovered still alive in the northern deserts of Jordon. The only tree alive in hundreds of square miles of emptiness. This tree is a link to the life of the Prophet and a place of visitation today.


From Dunia to Deen (The Deen Show)

The story of one man named Eddie who was lost in a jungle and enslaved to his desires. He was in Search for the truth in a world of deception. Eddie went through rough times during his high school years being involved in gangs. As his parents started to worry about which path his life was leading to, Eddie joined the US Army. Soon he started learning martial arts and that became his art for life. Today he has his own show called “The Deen Show”. His purpose of the show is to enlighten people who might be in a similar condition of how he struggled with in the past. He proves that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve it. One man and his journey to one nation!



The Blastphemy

Unravels the outrage over blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), questions of freedom of speech and how the 1.6 billion Muslims think? Different scholars such as Dalia Mogahed (Advisor to President Obama) and Syed Soharwardy (A Canadian Imam) talk about the problems they face because of some people releasing cartoons that are very offensive to Muslims. In Pakistan, Lahore a non-religious guy who disrespected Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was taken actions upon and Blastphemy shows how the public reacted to that event.



Abraham's Vision Graduation day

This documentary gives voices and faces to teen women and men among 39 Muslim and Jewish high school students. They are graduates of Abraham’s Vision 2010 year-long experimental educational Unity Program about Islam, Judaism, and Jewish-Muslim relationships – past, present, and future. The youth describe personal transformations and insights from shared exploration of group and individual identities through experimental and political education. They reveal their excitement of finally discovering the empathy for one another and the Jewish, Muslim Israeli, and Palestinian communities.

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