Films from the Muslim Youth Voices Project
USA | 15 min | 2015
The Muslim Youth Voices Project (MYVP) is a three-year national initiative of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) to help amplify young people’s expression and celebration of Muslim cultures by giving them the essential tools to tell their stories and the stories of their communities — stories often invisible to the national public. In the summer of 2015, the workshop came to Minneapolis to work with a talented group of young filmmakers.
Screened
Director: Iqbal Maxamed
What if you could talk back to the media? One young woman challenges her television to find out what real Islam is. And things aren't always what they seem.
Coming to America
Director: Shemsedin Sheikh
A young man recounts his journey to find home in a new country in this universal story of longing and belonging.
BFF?
Director: Aisha Aden
Do you really know who your friends are in high school? Aisha confronts her BFF when rumors start to spread on group text.
Imagination
Director: Roodo Abdikadir
There comes a time in every young woman’s life where she has to make a choice: sit quietly and let the media dictate her truth or…
Poetry in Community
Director: Faisal Mohamud
Spoken word and a community’s hopes take center stage in this heartfelt documentary from Cedar-Riverside where young filmmaker Faisal finds inspiration in the life and struggles of Sisco, a poet and artist making a difference in the neighborhood.
My Dream, My Right
Jordan | 45 min | 2015
My Dream, My Right is the result of the Za’atari Film Workshop; an initiative, co-sponsored by Voices of the Children and Save the Children, that included a 3-week filmmaking experience for Syrian refugee teens in the Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. Using camera phones as their recording device, this workshop provided the basics of documentary filmmaking. The end result of the workshop is nine documentary shorts filmed entirely by the teens on a subject of their choosing. In addition, each film is scored independently by music composition students at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, MN USA. My Dream, My Right is the compilation of all nine doc shorts.
Directors: Mohammad, Mohammad, Bashar, Mousa, Younis, Qais, Khaldia, Marah, Bayan, Ala'a, Yara, Hadil, Fatima, Roa, Roquia, Rahaf, Nariman, Anuar, Isra'a, Rihab
Producers: Faisal Attrache, Moe Najati, Aaron Wagner
Composers: Andrew Brassard, Carter Lange, Ethan Elseth, Jeffery Kornfeld, Jemma Heigis, Mariah Timm, Marko Maksimovic, Rahul Shah, Tyler Straka
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