just came back from a screening of “the muslims i know” at an OASIS community class called “the descendants of abraham.” the class is taught by jewish, christian and muslim instructors. extremely excited that they’ve been using my film in their introductory class for the last 3 yrs. a lady asked me a question that bothered me. i tried to stay calm but i might have seemed a bit cold. she said that the muslims portrayed in the film are well-to-do professionals. they r not the ones she’s worried about. she’s worried about the less well-off muslims who might send their kids to madrassas and teach them to hate others. ok. so my answer: first of all, the film is called the muslims i know. i refuse to stand up and pretend to speak for all muslims. the media do that. i don’t want to fall into that trap. i will not generalize. second, it’s interesting how people are uncomfortable with a certain “face” of islam. muslim doctors, lawyers and academics do exist. get over it. third, this connection between socio-economic class and violence is v disturbing. not only is that connection made with reference to muslims but also our own local communities, where poor inner-city neighborhoods are presumed to be violent as if, for some reason, they don’t share our civilized “values”. fourth, as one of the instructors added, violence is not just about shooting people, it’s also about enticing someone to take out a mortgage they can’t afford, foreclose their home and kick their family out on the street. pray, which socio-economic class perpetrates that kind of violence, which destroys the lives of many more people? finally, on the teaching of hate: how would u describe going to war with the second poorest country in the world, where most kids die of malnutrition, not extremism? who’s being taught to hate whom?
Category: projects
photo series: “other” families are beautiful too, #9 – pakistani family
photo series: “other” families are beautiful too, #8 – yemeni family
pakistan one on one to be screened in mashhad
my film “pakistan one on one” has been selected for the international ruyesh film festival, which will take place later this month in the city of mashhad, iran. the film is being translated and subtitled in farsi as we speak. how cool is that!
photo series: “other” families are beautiful too, #7 – uyghur chinese family
photo series: “other” families are beautiful too, #6 – afghan family (from afghanistan in photos)
witness palestine film series 2012: “one family in gaza” and “home front”
MC melanie duguid-may along with panelists dr ismail mehr (who worked as a doc in gaza for 9 days during the 2008-2009 attacks) and “one family in gaza” director jen marlowe (who was skyped in from jerusalem), little theater, sept 27, 2012.
One Family in Gaza
this is one of the short films screened at the little theater, on sept 27, 2012, as the third event in the witness palestine film series. u can watch the entire film online.
One Family in Gaza from Jen Marlowe on Vimeo.
photo series: “other” families are beautiful too, #5 – kashmiri family
witness palestine film series 2012: “salt of this sea”
with haneen ali and julia c hurley both panelists for “salt of this sea” – second film in the witness palestine film series, sept 23, 2012 (photograph by elaine johnson).
Friends of Education Excellence: Helping Students Succeed
check out this pro bono project i worked on earlier this year. shot the footage in two days and edited/post-produced the video myself in another two days. worked with my friend bruce pollock, the man behind FREE partnerships.
palestinian film series starts on sept 20th
opening of the palestinian film festival today, at the little, with “occupation has not future.” terrific attendance, in spite of everything else going on in rochester, and enthusiastic response to the film. here is MC jim tiefenthal and panelists dianne roe and david zlutnick (director and producer of the film, being skyped in from a coffee shop near portland).