Indie Films

Muslim Youth Voices

Muslim Youth Voices presents stories that convey the richness and diversity of Muslim Americans. Over the course of three summers, 44 youth from 6 cities were given the essential tools to tell their own stories on their own terms. The workshops resulted in short films, amplifying these young people’s voices, and illuminating the many identities and experiences of youth and Muslim life in America.

In Search of Home

2m 40s

In a sparse Staten Island apartment, a young Muslim American man struggles with feelings of loneliness. Looking for connection, he finds an Islamic Center located a ferry ride away. Where he once prayed alone, he now prays with others in community.

Episodes

  • Syrian Plight: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Syrian Plight

    S1 E20 - 3m 44s

    In this documentary, filmmaker Dunya Khalil brings attention to Syrian refugees, particularly children and youth who have become orphans. She learns about young people who have been purposely shot in the spine in order to paralyze them and prevent them from rebelling against the government.

  • Long Live the Queen: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Long Live the Queen

    S1 E19 - 3m 40s

    A young woman named U76T lives a mundane and ordinary existence, going to work every day at a factory and collecting her food ration. But everything changes one day when she’s summoned by the queen and meets someone unexpected along the way.

  • Money, Power & Portland: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Money, Power & Portland

    S1 E18 - 6m 11s

    Money and power corrupt in this tale of politics set in the Pacific Northwest. Basil has ambitions to become the mayor of Portland. To do so, he takes money from a shadowy figure, giving up everything he stands for in the process — even his own name.

  • Identity Crisis: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Identity Crisis

    S1 E17 - 3m 14s

    In the near future, Congress passes a law targeting Muslim Americans that bans religious garb in public. The government sets up a new surveillance agency to enforce the law. When two Muslim boys go outside to play basketball, they risk getting caught.

  • Graduation: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Graduation

    S1 E16 - 2m 43s

    Mina is looking forward to her high school graduation — and especially to seeing her sister from Tehran who plans to attend the milestone event. When the Muslim Travel Ban goes into effect and keeps the sister from visiting, Mina’s friend has an idea to cheer her up.

  • I Came to America: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    I Came to America

    S1 E15 - 2m 18s

    Shemsedin recounts the day he arrives in America with his sister. With a sense of wonderment — but also some apprehension — he cautiously explores his new home. When he’s unsure of how to navigate his new school and make friends, a teacher notices and helps him find his way.

  • Fair and Lovely: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fair and Lovely

    S1 E14 - 2m 53s

    Cutting remarks from her mother send a teenage girl on a quest to change her appearance. Bombarded by media messages that reinforce the notion that lighter skin means prettier, the girl slathers on a product that claims to make her “white before you know it” until she comes to a breaking point.

  • Black Muslim Woman: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Black Muslim Woman

    S1 E13 - 1m 48s

    From the first line, “I feel like I’m on fire,” Mikel Aki’leh delivers a powerful poem on beauty and blackness. Against a rhythmic score, Aki’leh enumerates the ways in which she’s been told that her black skin is “a sign of dirt” to others — and how she ultimately finds strength and confidence through her faith.

  • Poetry and Community: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Poetry and Community

    S1 E12 - 6m 20s

    In Cedar-Riverside, an immigrant neighborhood in Minneapolis, the Brian Coyle Community Center runs an after school arts program that helps youth express their own thoughts and experiences. The program has nurtured teens like Sisco, a spoken word poet who now teaches in the program where he was once a participant.

  • Imagination: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Imagination

    S1 E11 - 3m 9s

    A teenager sits transfixed in front of the TV all day, mindlessly absorbing negative images and prompting her mother to scold her. After a horrifying dream, the teen takes her mother’s advice to heart, unlocking a world of imagination and poetry from within.

  • Harmony: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Harmony

    S1 E10 - 6m 47s

    Singer songwriter Jude struggles with expectations placed on her to obscure her heritage. Her manager asks if she plans to wear a hijab like her mother, telling her that it would be detrimental to her image. After a botched performance and plummeting confidence, a chance encounter helps her gain direction.

  • Woods of the Reaper: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Woods of the Reaper

    S1 E9 - 3m 56s

    Zain and Moiz are walking in a park when they come across a “danger” sign at the edge of the woods. To Zain, this seems like a challenge to explore a forbidden area. But Moiz has a bad feeling about it as he reluctantly follows Zain into the woods.

Extras + Features

  • Muslim Youth Voices | Overview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Muslim Youth Voices | Overview

    2m 23s

    Muslim Youth Voices presents stories that convey the richness and diversity of Muslim Americans. Over the course of three summers, 44 youth from 6 cities were given the essential tools to tell their own stories on their own terms. The workshops resulted in short films, amplifying these young people’s voices, and illuminating the many identities and experiences of youth and Muslim life in America.

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