So here I am in Sydney, Australia.
Last night was amazing. The Mardi Gras Film Festival and its courageous and visionary Director Lex Lindsay had to organize a second parallel screening of the film on Oxford Street, just to accomodate the overflow of eager audiences. And yes, Jihad played on two screens simultaneously-that is a total of 680 people in one evening! Everyone crowded into the main theater for the Forum discussion afterwards, that lasted for more than half an hour. We were joined by an old friend, fellow gay Muslim Azeem Ahmad, who is one of the first people I had ever filmed with. Azeem shared his amazing story with the Australian audience and the resonance of the film with current refugee, asylum issues here in Oz as well as the ongoing debates about Islam, was profound.
A woman in Hijab, a few gay Muslims and a remarkably engaged audience-made for a really moving evening.
A lot of press is happening.
An excellent interview with ABC, Australian National Radio is available at the link below-this is the Oz equivalent of NPR and Richard Aedy of LIFE MATTERS did a very thoughtful discussion-here is a journalist who had clearly done his homework and really engaged remarkably well with the film. (the interview is about 36 minutes into the program)
A JIHAD FOR LOVE ON ABC'S LIFE MATTERS WITH RICHARD AEDY
THERE IS A THIRD SCREENING ON WEDNESDAY AT THE DENDY CINEMA IN NEWTOWN AT 9 PM-PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.
Here are some reactions from last night.
NICK writes...
Hi Parvez,
I saw your film tonight in Sydney, it was amazing.
Very thought provoking...
I can’t wait to see how it goes in Turkey and Indonesia.
AMAN MALHI writes...
I most say I was completely overwhelmed and over come w/ emotion after watching your documentary. You are truly an exceptional human being and a revolutionary of our time. Thank you, you have given my homosexual Muslim friends a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, letting them know that they are not alone in their struggle.
BEN writes...
"Thank you for your brave, challenging and optimistic film. ben.".
And from Mexico, PEDRO writes...
"Hi, Parvez-I watched your film at the Morelia Film Festival. I was amazed by how you managed to capture all of those feelings in one film. Congratulations! Keep up the work!"
2 comments:
Viewing this movie with my family in Sydney, we experienced a myriad of emotions ranging from a sense of pride to shedding tears that expressed distress and joy for our Muslim sisters and brothers. Jihad for Love generated conversations with my family that would have never been possible without this movie. Parvez Sharma skilfully highlights the process and journey of religious identification and sexuality as an important and complex part of people’s lives. We were transported with all the beautiful stories highlighting people’s purposes, values, beliefs, hopes, dreams and commitments. I sincerely appreciate what it took for the people in the movie to generously share their stories with us. I would like to acknowledge and honour their courage strength and resilience. Their voices are a meaningful part of rendering visibility to the Muslim GLBTIQ communities...we exist.
Parvez and Sandi words cannot express my gratitude to you, and I give thanks for your skill, talent and courage to render visibility to the invisible, given the current climate affecting Muslims. Jihad for Love is a beautiful movie of connection, identity and love…it focuses on what is in our lives, rather than what is not… this “work is love made visible.”
Allahın laneti sizin ve lut kavmi gibilerinin üzerine olsun.
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