terrific screening of “pakistan one on one” at the indymedia convergence, last night at 9pm. it’s going to be a great weekend – democracy now’s senior producer mike burke is in town. check out the schedule here.
Category: local
Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalities, Contentions, and Complexities
attended a v disconcerting book discussion last week. the book was Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalities, Contentions, and Complexities but the discussion was broader. the conversation was to be moderated by two interfaith leaders, one muslim, one jewish, but i knew that it would be an uphill battle when the rabbi recommended a book by alan dershowitz in his opening remarks.
he framed the discussion is such a limiting and frankly offensive way that it left v little room for real, meaningful interaction. besides echoing trite stereotypes about muslims (why don’t they condemn terrorism? do they want to integrate or remain isolated?) he threw around the ground zero mosque, fear of shariah law and the hijab and u.s. military classes that justify wiping out mecca and medina, not as manifestations of islamophobia which we must acknowledge and debunk but to ask muslims to explain why people felt that way about them. it’s like asking jews to explain why there’s been so much anti-semitism in the world – why is there such “distrust”. it’s ridiculous. being an interfaith meeting, i thought that we’d start with the assumption that all racism, prejudice, stereotyping and profiling is unacceptable. that’s where i come from anyway.
the other moderator tried to find some common ground by talking about parallels between anti-semitism and islamophobia, but that comparison was cut short. islamophobia is a reaction to the events of 9/11, whereas anti-semitism is baseless the rabbi seemed to imply. also, he said, where both communities stand today in terms of “modernity” is completely different. he went on to comment that this fact was visible in the room. wha? first, i reminded him of something called “orientalism.” the otherness of the muslim is not a post 9/11 phenomenon. and the otherness of the jew is not that antiquated either. remember the protocols of zion? plus bigotry has nothing to do with how “modern” one is or how “integrated.” german jews were pretty well-integrated no?
and let’s not even get into what was said about palestine. oy vey!
lilac festival 2012
for mother’s day today: after a sumptuous nicaraguan breakfast prepared by my better half (including eggs, rice and beans, fried plantains and fried halloumi) we went to highland park to enjoy the lilac festival.
jen marlowe reads from her book “the hour of sunlight” in rochester, ny
elaine and i with activist, writer and filmmaker jen marlowe (center) who was here in rochester on may 1st, at writers and books, to read from her book “the hour of sunlight: one palestinian’s journey from prisoner to peacemaker.”
zizek conference at suny brockport (april 28-29, 2012)
stand against racism and the screening of “pakistan one on one”
with david tang and another member of the monroe county bar association’s diversity committee. i screened “pakistan one on one” for them on april 27th, the ywca’s stand against racism national day. more on events that took place on april 27, 2012, including my film screening here.
documentary panel at st john fisher’s college
on march 29, 2012, had a wonderful discussion with co-panelist and filmmaker linda moroney and film critic jack garner. tom proetti was the moderator and organizer of this terrific conversation about filmmaking at st john fisher’s college. such fun to talk about documentaries. tom asked us to come up with our ten favorite docs. here’s my list:
two screenings of “pakistan one on one” this sunday april 1, 2012
my film “pakistan one on one” will be screened on sunday april 1st at the third presbyterian church (on meigs st) at 9.30 am and later that evening at the flying squirrel community space (on clarissa st) at 7 pm. both screenings will be followed by discussions. hope u can join us. facebook event link here.
stand against racism PSAs
was filmed this morning for a public service announcement related to the ywca’s stand against racism. so important. was nervous about being in front of the camera, rather than behind it, but it all went v well. here’s more on the filming at rit: Film Students Shoot and Direct ‘Stand Against Racism’ PSAs Airing on Local TV.
career fair today
some filmmaking tools i shared with high school students when speaking to them about being a part of the media – career fair, islamic center of rochester, feb 25, 2012.
“war horse” in ny
watched “war horse” at the lincoln center theater last saturday. it explores the profound bond between man and animal. the first world war forms the backdrop to the story and the message is definitely anti-war. not only are all men fighting on all sides humanized but the utter futility, waste and destruction of war is highlighted throughout the show. i was shocked to learn that 8 million horses were killed in world war I – compare that to 10 million soldiers. it’s almost a 1:1 ratio. the play talks about how barbed wire, machine guns and eventually the tank made the horse obsolete and changed the rules of war. who could have imagined video game style drones back in 1918… it took the handspring puppet company years to design the horses seen in the show. they move their ears and tails and breathe and rear and trot with almost as much beauty and elegance as real horses. animated sketches are projected onto a chunk of wall hanging in the background to provide much needed context to the action on stage. stunning.
YWCA’s Stand Against Racism
participated in a board meeting to make the ywca’s “stand against racism” penetrate deeper into the community. we want to move beyond awareness into more meaningful encounters, longer term cross-racial/ethnic relationships and permanent attitude shifts. any suggestions r welcome. more here.
Bringing King to China Opening
watched “bringing king to china” at nazareth college and had dinner with director kevin mckiernan – v cool.
screenings of “pakistan one on one” at st john fisher’s college
my doc “pakistan one on one” will be screened at st john fisher’s college (basil hall) tomorrow at 12.20pm and later at 6.15pm. more info here. pls join us if u can.
Introduction to Mara Ahmed’s Documentary about the Partition of India
an intro to my film about partition at the little theatre, rochester, ny – february 9, 2012.
i got a bit verklempt while reading john siddique’s v moving and v poetic piece on partition. a big thank u to my friend nancy ghertner for shooting this video.