Tower Theatre :: 12pm :: Sunday, September 21

A Jihad for Love

  • $10.00
  • Director: Parvez Sharma
  • 2008, USA, 81min, subtitled

In a time when Islam is under tremendous attack from within and without, A Jihad for Love is a daring documentary filmed in twelve countries and nine languages. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma has gone where the silence is loudest, filming with great risk in nations where government permission to make this film was not an option.

Sharma enters the many worlds of Islam by illuminating multiple stories as diverse as Islam itself.  In Western media, the concept of ‘jihad’ is often narrowly equated with holy war. But jihad also has a deeper meaning, its literal Arabic being ‘struggle’ or ‘to strive in the path of God’. In this film we meet several characters engaged in their personal jihads for love.  Their pursuit of love has brought them into conflicts with their countries, families, and even themselves. Such is the quandary of being both homosexual and Muslim, a combination so taboo that very little about it has been documented.

As a result, the majority of gay and lesbian Muslims must travel a twisting, lonely and often dangerous road, and end up renouncing their religion completely. But the real life characters of A Jihad for Love aren't willing to abandon a faith they cherish and that sustains them. Instead, they struggle to reconcile their ardent belief with the innate reality of their being.

The characters each have vastly different personal takes on Islam, some observing a rigorously orthodox regimen, others leading highly secular lifestyles while remaining spiritually devout. As the camera attentively captures their stories, the film’s gay and lesbian participants emerge in all their human complexity, giving the viewer an honest rendering of their lives while complicating our assumptions about a monolithic Muslim community.  In the hope of opening a dialogue that has been mostly nonexistent in Islam’s recent history, and defining jihad as a “struggle” rather than a “war,” the film presents the struggle for love.

Winner of over 12 awards, including the prestigious Teddy (Berlin) for Best Documentary.

Short Film

Lot’s Wife

  • Director: Koray Durak/Harjant Gill
  • 2008, USA/Turkey, 9min, subtitled

Reel Pride favorite Harjant Gill continues to impress and improve his work, moving from San Francisco to Turkey for this modern-day retelling of the biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Scheduled to Appear:  Director Harjant Gill

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  • Sponsors & Directors Club Members only