Express Newark’s Community Media Center and Scribe Video Center, in partnership with The Newark Museum of Art, presents this day-long event featuring film screenings, panel discussions, and performances highlighting and celebrating histories, art, culture, and social perspectives from our Muslim communities.
The program includes a catered reception and will end with a special presentation of the award-winning feature length documentary, TWO GODS, by Zeshawn and Aman Ali. Set in Newark, TWO GODS tells the story of Muslim casket maker and ritual body washer, HANIF, as he takes two young men under his wing to teach them how to live better lives. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
This event marks the launch of Muslim Voices of Newark, a community history project hosted by Express Newark’s Community Media Center, in partnership with Scribe Video Center.
Enter the event through the South Wing, located near the Museum parking lot. Doors open 30 minutes before the event’s start time.
Location: Billy Johnson Auditorium and Engelhard Court
Please review our visiting guidelines before arriving at the Museum.
Schedule
10am – Welcome
10:20am: Muslim Voices of Philadelphia Films (43 mins 42 sec)
- Lost No More, 2014 (17 mins) by the New Africa Center (Islamic Cultural Preservation and Information Council, ICPIC)
Lost No More focuses on the transition and evolution of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, after the death of its leader, the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, in February 1975 from a Black consciousness/social protest/religious movement to a faith practice following traditional Islam under the leadership of his son, Imam W. D. Mohammed. - Get to Know Us: Keeping Islam Simple & Serving the Common People, 2014 (11:42 mins) by Masjid Muhammad
Through their entrepreneurial and humanist approach to Islam and the desire for community, Masjid Muhammad continues to build a place for Muslims to organize and to serve the needs of Philadelphia in the face of great adversity. - Journey to Fulfillment 2014 (15 mins) by QAAMS (Qa’id Ameer Abdul Majeed Staten Hajj Foundation)
This film documents the Muslim youth group, QAAMS, whose main objective is to send its members on Hajj. The film delves into the lives of QAAMS’ members and their journeys, drawing on the contrasts of its Senior and Junior council.
11:05am – Muslim Voices of Philadelphia Filmmakers Panel (30 mins)
11:45am – Performance
11:55am – “Not Haram”: Nurturing Art and Storytelling in Our Community
- Panelists Include: Shaheed Shaheed (filmmaker), Abdullah Muhammad (musician), Hafiz Farid (filmmaker), Yasmeen Muhammad (filmmaker)
- Moderator: Sister Laila Muhammad, Poet, Educator, Community Advocate
1pm – Halal Lunch/Reception
2pm – Muslim Voices Program/Application Process, Discussion and Q&A
Two Gods (86 mins)
Two Gods is an award-winning feature length documentary that tells the story of Muslim casket maker and ritual body washer, HANIF, as he takes two young men under his wing and teaches them how to live better lives.
4pm – Two Gods Filmmakers Panel and Q&A
- Panelists: Hanif Muhammad, Zeshawn and Aman Ali
4:30pm – Closing Remarks
About Muslim Voices
Muslim Voices is a national community history project, founded by Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia, where individuals and communities learn media making and explore the use of video as both an artistic medium and as a tool for progressive social change. Muslim Voices was designed to highlight and celebrate the presence, history, contributions and challenges of African American Muslims in America. In this initiative, members of mosques, masjids, schools, cultural centers, and other Muslim groups combine archival research, ethnography, oral history, and digital media to create short documentary films exploring and amplifying the rich stories, histories, and perspectives of their communities.
This year, Scribe will partner with Express Newark’s Community Media Center (CMC) to launch the initiative here in Newark, New Jersey, providing instruction and media tools to traditionally underrepresented Muslim groups in the Greater Newark Area so that they can research and share the stories, significant events, achievements, and issues that are part of both the history of Islam in the Newark area and the city itself.
Sold Out!