New Muslim film festival ‘to showcase our stories’

A new film festival in the UK celebrating Muslim cinema will “showcase stories we don’t usually see”, its director has said.

Sajid Varda has told BBC News that too often there is a “negative portrayal” of Muslims in the mainstream media, “so this festival is largely to reclaim the words Muslim and Islam”.

The festival includes films featuring Oscar-winning actor Riz Ahmed and Informer’s Nabhaan Rizwan.

It runs from 30 May to 2 June.

The festival will open with the London premiere of Hounds, a crime film set in Casablanca.

Directed by Kamal Lazraq, the film has already scooped up multiple awards including at Cannes.

There will also be a screening of In Camera, a feature by Naqqash Khalid that stars Rizwan as a young actor caught in a cycle of auditions and repeated rejections.

Other highlights include Dammi, a short film by French-Algerian director Yann Demange starring Ahmed as a man who travels back to Paris to reconnect with his estranged father.

British star Ahmed was the first Muslim to be nominated for best actor at the Oscars – a ceremony which has been criticised for its lack of diversity, leading to award rule changes.

He went on to win an Academy Award in 2022 for his live-action short, The Long Goodbye.

Ahmed has regularly spoken up about diversity on screen. The Riz Test, a set of criteria to measure how Muslims are portrayed on film and TV, was created by two film fans in the actor’s honour.

Varda, the festival director, says Muslims tend to get depicted in stereotypical ways in film and TV.

“The world changed a lot after 9/11,” he said.

“Muslims started to be portrayed as synonymous with terrorists. It’s one of the associations we think of when we think of Muslims.

“This negative portrayal has a real impact on our community.”

Varda, who founded the charity UK Muslim Film to champion underrepresented talent and voices, has said he rarely sees movies from the Muslim world at film festivals.

He said the festival aimed to spotlight these stories and also help emerging filmmakers.

“It’s about owning our narrative and showcasing beautiful stories from around the world, and also help mainstream audiences be exposed to our cultures and our faith,” he said.

“There’s so much more we have in common than divides us.”

Filmmaker Warda Mohamed, whose short film Muna is screening at the festival, said the UK’s diversity “needs to be reflected in what we consume”.

“We need to have access to films that challenge stereotypes and reaffirm the norm of Muslim stories,” she told BBC News.

Muna follows a British-Somali teenage girl navigating a confusing mourning period for her grandfather, a man she never really knew.

“I’m so proud of this short, it took a while to make but it’s been such a wonderful experience,” Mohamed said.

She said that she was positive about the outlook for Muslim film.

Things are “slowly changing”, she said.

“There’s an incredible group of filmmakers just wanting for their chance to create and I hope we usher in a new generation of Muslim talent.”

Other programme highlights include the London premiere of Hesitation Wound, which scooped up an award at the Zurich Film Festival.

There will also be a screening of the British Pakistani filmmaker Moin Hussain’s offbeat sci-fi film, Sky Pearls, which tells the story of a directionless, alienated and lonely man who works nightshifts in a fast-food restaurant.

Its lead actor, Faraz Ayub, told BBC News the festival aims to highlight talent “from all walks of life”.

“It’s not so much about needing a Muslim film festival,” he said. “The Muslim International Film Festival is here because there is a market for it.

“And, as a film fan, it’s exciting to see. Storytelling is a huge part of Islamic culture.”