Arts & Entertainment

Arts & Entertainment

Muslim writers call for more positive, authentic portrayals in film, TV stories 'Man With a Plan' and 'America Inside Out With Katie Couric' staffers were among those who spoke Monday at a panel hosted by the Writers Guild of America East.

March 26, 2019   

(Hollywood Reporter) There has never been a more important time for positive, nuanced and authentic portrays of Muslims on television and in film and digital media. That was the message, at least, on Monday evening at a panel discussion with Muslim writers […]

Arts & Entertainment

Punching down at dead cartoonists The response to the attack on Charlie Hebdo was a pivotal moment that foreshadowed the political crisis in Western societies

January 8, 2019   

(Tablet) Yesterday marked the four-year anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, in which the staff of a satirical French comics publication, along with several bystanders, were murdered by jihadist terrorists inside their Paris offices. The killers were the brothers Saïd and Chérif […]

Arts & Entertainment

Islamic Relief USA donates $100,000 to Louisville’s Muhammad Ali Center The donation will be used to fund a temporary exhibit called 'America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far.'

November 19, 2018   

(WDRB) The Muhammad Ali Center has received a major donation from an Islamic non-profit humanitarian agency. Islamic Relief USA has given $100,000 to the center on its 13th anniversary, according to a news release. The Alexandria, Virginia-based organization says [it’s] an effort to honor […]

Arts & Entertainment

New generation drives Calgary’s Muslim arts scene There’s a growing underground movement in Calgary featuring everything from painting to poetry

November 12, 2018   

(CBC) More young Muslims in Calgary are picking up brushes, pens, cameras and microphones, and creating their own arts scene. A new generation is expressing themselves while honouring their religion in many different ways, including everything from traditional Islamic patterns and geometric […]

Arts & Entertainment

WGF, MPAC host panel on creating authentic representation for Muslims in film and TV 'If I'm the Muslim writer in the room and I feel like it's going in a certain way and the Muslim character is moving into a certain stereotype, I have the responsibility to voice my opinion,' shared 'S.W.A.T.' writer Munis Rashid at the Hollywood panel.

October 19, 2018   

(Hollywood Reporter) On Thursday evening, an industry panel featuring writers, actors and practicing entertainment lawyers discussed ways in which Muslims and the Islamic faith have been represented through film and television as well as offering ideas on how to ensure better and […]

Arts & Entertainment

Canada’s first professional Muslim theatre company celebrates ‘the common thread that ties us’ As anti-Muslim sentiment rises in Quebec, Montreal's Silk Road Theatre hopes to help bring people together

October 15, 2018   

(CBC) Montreal-based Silk Road Institute recently made history when it staged the play The Domestic Crusaders as the inaugural production for its new sub-company the Silk Road Theatre Company. In doing so, it officially became Canada’s first professional theatre company dedicated to celebrating Muslim stories. Supported by […]

Arts & Entertainment

Comedian Eshaan Akbar on trying to highlight the humour in Islam 'There’s no representation on TV of Muslims having a laugh. There isn’t anything out there that allows white British people to see Muslims just being normal,' he says

August 19, 2018   

(National-UAE) Most comedians have to put up with a fair degree of heckling in their careers, but British comedian Eshaan Akbar has received violent threats for his new stand-up routine at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In Prophet Like It’s Hot, the 34-year-old […]

Academics & Education

USC launches Hollywood boot camp for Middle Eastern TV creators The Los Angeles training program for Arab TV writers and producers comes as Netflix and other U.S. digital players target 300 million potential viewers in the region.

July 10, 2018   

(Hollywood Reporter) Keen to bring high-end TV to the Middle East, the USC School of Cinematic Arts has launched a Hollywood training program for Arabic TV writers and producers. USC, working with the U.S. State Department, is hosting an initial Hollywood boot […]

Arts & Entertainment

The vicious circle of Islamist terrorism and far-right extremism While Islamist terrorists get close scrutiny, their far-right counterparts often do not. But that is changing, especially as studies show jihadists and the far-right not only reflect each other, but feed off each other.

July 6, 2018 and   

(Christian Science Monitor) When most people think of the Bataclan these days, it’s not the venerated theater where rock bands have been playing since the 1970s which comes to mind. Rather, it’s Islamist terrorism, after 89 people were killed there during a […]