Taqwacore (film)
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam documentary;
- For the Taqwacore music movement, see TaqwacoreTaqwacoreTaqwacore is a subgenre of punk music dealing with Islam, its culture, and interpretation, originally conceived in Michael Muhammad Knight's 2003 novel, The Taqwacores. The name is a portmanteau of hardcore and the Arabic word Taqwa, which is usually translated as "piety" or the quality of being...
. - For the novel The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight, see The TaqwacoresThe TaqwacoresKnight originally self-published The Taqwacores in DIY zine format, giving copies away for free until finding distribution with Alternative Tentacles, the punk record label founded by Jello Biafra. After receiving an endorsement from Peter Lamborn Wilson , the novel was published by radical press...
. - For narrative film based on the novel, see The Taqwacores (film)The Taqwacores (film)The Taqwacores is a 2010 film adaptation of the 2003 novel The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight. The film was directed by Eyad Zahra and stars Bobby Naderi, Dominic Rains, and Noureen Dewulf. The film imagines a fictitious Islamic Punk Rock scene through characters living in a punk house in...
.
Taqwacore (full title Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam) is a 2009 documentary by director Omar Majeed
Omar Majeed
Omar Majeed is a Pakistani Canadian film director and producer who studied cinema at York University Film School and later on studied editing at the International Academy of Design in Toronto. He is the son of Musarrat Nazir. He went on to work as producer Toronto's CityTV and won a Gemini Award...
produced by EyeSteelFilm
EyeSteelFilm
EyeSteelFilm is a Montreal-based Canadian cinema production company founded and co-owned by Daniel Cross and Mila Aung-Thwin, dedicated to socially engaged cinema, bringing social and political change through cinematic expression...
about a number of Taqwacore
Taqwacore
Taqwacore is a subgenre of punk music dealing with Islam, its culture, and interpretation, originally conceived in Michael Muhammad Knight's 2003 novel, The Taqwacores. The name is a portmanteau of hardcore and the Arabic word Taqwa, which is usually translated as "piety" or the quality of being...
bands and performers touring the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The documentary was filmed during three years 2007 to 2009.
The documentary Taqwacore is one of two films based on on Michael Muhammad Knight
Michael Muhammad Knight
Michael Muhammad Knight is an American Muslim novelist, journalist, and performance artist. His writings are popular among American Muslim youth...
's book The Taqwacores
The Taqwacores
Knight originally self-published The Taqwacores in DIY zine format, giving copies away for free until finding distribution with Alternative Tentacles, the punk record label founded by Jello Biafra. After receiving an endorsement from Peter Lamborn Wilson , the novel was published by radical press...
. In 2008, the book had been made into a feature film by director Eyad Zahra starring actress Noureen DeWulf as Rabeya, actress Rasika Mathur as Fatima, and actor Bobby Naderi as Yusef.
The film will make its premier at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. Also, the film hits select theaters in Los Angeles and Irvine on November 12.
Appearances
Many characters are featured in the documentary. Main characters include:- Michael Muhammad KnightMichael Muhammad KnightMichael Muhammad Knight is an American Muslim novelist, journalist, and performance artist. His writings are popular among American Muslim youth...
, author of 2003 novel The TaqwacoresThe TaqwacoresKnight originally self-published The Taqwacores in DIY zine format, giving copies away for free until finding distribution with Alternative Tentacles, the punk record label founded by Jello Biafra. After receiving an endorsement from Peter Lamborn Wilson , the novel was published by radical press...
about punk Islam where he imagined a community of Muslim radicals: mohawked Sufis, riot grrrlRiot grrrlRiot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...
s in burqaBurqaA burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...
s with band patches, skinhead Shi’as etc. Knight is American convert to IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
who joins the band in their tour. - The KominasThe KominasThe Kominas are a Pakistani-American Desi punk rock band from New York City. The band currently includes Basim Usmani , Imran Ali Malik , Hassan Ali Malik and Abdullah Saeed .- History :...
members. The Kominas is a Pakistani punk band from the suburbs of BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Members:- Basim Usmani (bassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
and vocals) - Shahjehan Khan (guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and vocals) - Arjun Ray (guitar and vocals)
- Imran Malik (drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
)
- Basim Usmani (bass
- Al-ThawraAl-ThawraAl-Thawra is an experimental crust punk band from Chicago, Illinois. Current members are Marwan Kamel , Micah Bezold , and Mario Salazar .Marwan Kamel once quoted Cesar Chavez, saying that "Revolution starts with one person at a time, talking to...
, heavy metal Arab band from ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
featuring Marwan - Diacritical
- Vote Hezbollah, fronted by Kourosh, an Iranian from San Antonio
- Secret Trial FiveSecret Trial Five-Origins:Sena Hussain formed Secret Trial Five with four friends following 9/11, when she became interested in making music with political messages. Secret Trial Five takes its name from a group of Muslims suspected of terrorism currently held without charge in Canada.-History:In fall 2007, Secret...
an all-female CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
punk rockPunk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band fronted by Sena, a Pakistani lesbian from VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
Synopsis
The Pakistani punkers The Kominas
The Kominas
The Kominas are a Pakistani-American Desi punk rock band from New York City. The band currently includes Basim Usmani , Imran Ali Malik , Hassan Ali Malik and Abdullah Saeed .- History :...
have arrived at the last stop of their first USA tour and are celebrating with tourmates. Also appearing are the author Michael Muhammad Knight ("The Taqwacores"), Koroush (Vote Hezbollah), Sena (Secret Trial Five) and Marwan (Al-Thawra).
They incite a riot of young hijabi girls at the largest Muslim gathering in North America after Sena takes the stage.
The film then travels with The Kominas accompanied by Michael Muhammad Knight, their guru, to Pakistan, where they bring punk to the streets of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
and elsewhere in Pakistan. Michael also begins to reconcile his fundamentalist past with the rebel he has now become.
Festivals
- Vancouver International Film FestivalVancouver International Film FestivalThe Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...
, world premiere - Festival du Nouveau CinémaFestival du Nouveau CinémaThe Festival du Nouveau Cinéma was known as the Montreal Festival of New Cinema and New Media until 2004. Founded in 1971, by Claude Chamberlan and Dimitri Eipides, it is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal and features independent films from around the world...
, MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec premiere - Sheffield Doc/Fest, European premiere
- Theatrical release October 19, 2009
- Festival International du Film Indépendant, LilleLilleLille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, winner of the Silver Butterfly prize, 2011