Fridae

Join the Hull-House Museum for two special presentations with acclaimed filmmaker Parvez Sharma:

DATE
Thursday April 7

TIMES
7:00PM—9:30PM


ABOUT THE EVENT
Screening of A Jihad for Love, followed by a presentation from the filmmaker

"A Jihad for Love" is Parvez Sharma's debut and is the world’s first feature documentary to explore the complex global intersections between Islam and homosexuality. In a time when Islam is under tremendous attack from within and without, "A Jihad for Love" is a daring documentary filmed in twelve countries and nine languages. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma has gone where the silence is loudest, filming with great risk in nations where government permission to make this film was not an option.

www.ajihadforlove.com

In his presentation, Reflections of the Middle East by a Film ‘Jihadi,’ Parvez weaves a deft understanding of the Middle East and current/ongoing turmoil in the region--by referencing his more than a decade of work and experience in countries like Egypt, where he filmed in secret, without government permission during Hosni Mubarak's repressive regime. The discussion moves toward greater issues of Islam and modernity, real Mid-East democracy, the problems of attributing too much credit to social media in the region, and policing morality, sexuality and gender in certain regimes.

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Jane Addams Hull-House Museum is located at 800 S. Halsted St at the eastern edge of the UIC campus. All events are free and open to the public. There will likely be food of some sort and it's right after the Asian American Safe Zone program over at the Gender and Sexuality Center. Hope you'll join us!

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Friday April 8, 12-1pm
Brown Bag Lunch and TalkBack on Race and Identity

Parvez talks about the challenges of working as a Muslim filmmaker in an industry where the gatekeepers are mostly White and certainly not Muslim. He examines the potential for creating a more diverse film industry in the United States which could possibly be an accurate reflection of impending demographic changes. He also discusses his problems with being called "a filmmaker of color" and makes the case for Muslims getting a chance to represent the issues that concern them.

Thanks to our UIC Co-sponsors:
The Institute for Research in Race and Public Policy
Gender and Women's Studies
Gender and Sexuality Center
International Studies Program


About Parvez Sharma
Parvez Sharma is an award-winning, New York-based writer and filmmaker. His first feature, A Jihad for Love, is an international phenomenon with more than 8 million viewers in 49 countries within the first year of its release. Looking at the difficult themes of Islam and homosexuality in a post-September 11 world, the film has won numerous awards and generated an international media blitz. Utne Readernamed Sharma as one of its "50 Visionaries Who are Changing Your World" in a list lead by the Dalai Lama.

Hailed as a "gifted filmmaker" by the Wall Street Journal, "frankly brave" by NPR, "provocative" by the San Francisco Chronicle, and "an apostate" by South Africa's Muslim Judicial Council, Sharma is a leading commentator on Islamic, racial and political issues. He has been a featured speaker at more than 40 college campuses, including Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Harvard and Northwestern. His writings appear frequently on The Huffington Post, Daily Beast, The Guardian and CNN-IBN.

In early 2011 Sharma blogged about the revolution in Eqypt, providing a local perspective on international events. His commentary and interviews with friends on the streets of Cairo provided an intimate, detailed view of history, as the events unfolded. To read Parvez Sharma’s blog, click here. For his Huffington Post column, including many articles about the uprising in Egypt, click here.