works in progress (tonight!)

The only thing I made it to at this year’s HRW Film Festival was a special screening of “works in progress”—Parvez Sharma’s film about queer/same-sex-loving Muslims (people have been telling me about this project for years now, so it was exciting to finally get a glimpse) and Senain Kheshgi and Geeta V. Patel’s “Project Kashmir.” More to say about these later, I hope—-but I enjoyed the unusual chance to get a glimpse at emerging works, and hear from the filmmakers about their hopes for these projects.

So today I want to trumpet another work-in-progress screening, for those of you in New York—come see a preview of my friend Lyra’s film Flying While Muslim: Racial Profiling Post-9/11 at Alwan for the Arts tonight! Details below. (The first half-hour preview screening was actually a couple of weeks ago, but I was in Kiev, and had to miss it.) I mentioned Flying While Muslim here back in February, and it's been a pleasure to watch the film’s progress since. It’s an engaging and sensitive look at an important issue, and I can say that with authority, since I’ve seen a lot of the footage in the preview and have worked in various minor capacities to assist project. (It’s the first time I’ve been in a film’s credits. The debate over what to term my role has been the source of endless amusement.)

The most exciting about the film, though, is its power as a tool for activism and a means of spreading awareness and sparking dialogue. So come watch, have a drink, and go forth and raise some hell.

Flying While Muslim shows the faces of racial profiling in the post 9/11 America--and examines the complex intersection of immigration, multiculturalism, and national security. Director Lyra Porras Garzon presents a wide range of voices, from those of Americans who have been victimized by racial profiling to those who argue it is a necessary evil in the face of a terrorist threat. The film seeks to open a space for dialogue by sharing the stories of ordinary men and women at a time when the fear of terrorism has changed the way Americans look at their country--and each other.

Due to the sold-out screening of the preview of "Flying While Muslim": Racial Profiling Post-9/11 at Pioneer Theater, we are holding a special screening/fund raising party. This is a revised cut of the 30-minute preview with added elements and new footage. Q & A with the director will follow after the screening. We will also have a cash bar and music.

When: July 10th, 2007 at 7:00pm - 9:30pm
Where: Alwan For the Arts ( www.alwan.org )
Ticket Price: 10$ suggested donation (but no one will be turned away)
Music: DJ NTS

Flying While Muslim website