From the Toronto Star - July 18, 2008
Susan Walker
Entertainment Reporter
A Jihad for Love
(out of 4)
Written and directed by Parvez Sharma. 81 minutes. At the Royal. PG
While there is much to admire among the subjects of A Jihad for Love, the film itself is a low-grade production that risks losing the viewer with an unimaginative sequence of talking heads.
Sometimes we don't even get that: the faces of the queer Muslims interviewed in this documentary about homosexuality and Islam are often smudged out, to protect them and their families.
Born and raised in India, gay Muslim director Parvez Sharma is a journalist who has worked for the BBC and The Telegraph. He obtained much of his footage for this film surreptitiously, especially in countries such as Iran where homosexuality is a crime punishable by death.
It would be one thing if the gay men and lesbian women that Sharma interviews were content to lead secular lives, but the sting comes in their devotion to their faith.
As much as they might wish to proclaim the love that dare not speak its name, these Indians, Iranians, Pakistanis and Egyptians more fervently wish to reconcile their love of Allah with same-sex preferences.
Muhsin Hendricks, who lives in Cape Town, is a particularly poignant example. He comes from a long line of Islamic scholars. "I was virtually born in a mosque," he says. Aware of his own nature from an early age, he asks God why he had to be this way.
He goes to Pakistan and marries, has three children, then takes the bold step of coming out. As an openly gay Imam, he engages those in his orthodox Muslim community, urging them to see that the Qu'ran has no injunctions against same-sex love.
In Cairo, Sharma finds Mazen, who was raped and tortured in prison following a raid on a gay club. "God has given me patience," he says, from his refuge in Paris.
A happier story is told about Ferda, a Sufi lesbian in Istanbul, and her girlfriend, Kiymet. The camera follows them on a visit to Ferda's mother, who affectionately embraces her daughter's partner.
Most frightened of all are the Iranian gay men who flee their country to reside in Turkey. Amir shows a photograph of his back after enduring 100 lashes in an hour while in police custody in Iran.
He joins up with three other gay men from his country and waits with them while the UN refugee agency seeks a home for them. Two are granted asylum in Canada, but this victory is bittersweet for the young man who realizes he may never again see his mother.
A Jihad for Love wanders aimlessly from country to country and indulges in long digressions.
A few statistics are scattered about but the documentary lacks a strong framework in which to house these struggles of gay and lesbian Muslims, a jihad that is certainly not confined to their faith.
Parvez Sharma hosts Q & A sessions after evening screenings through Monday.
Susan Walker
Entertainment Reporter
A Jihad for Love
(out of 4)
Written and directed by Parvez Sharma. 81 minutes. At the Royal. PG
While there is much to admire among the subjects of A Jihad for Love, the film itself is a low-grade production that risks losing the viewer with an unimaginative sequence of talking heads.
Sometimes we don't even get that: the faces of the queer Muslims interviewed in this documentary about homosexuality and Islam are often smudged out, to protect them and their families.
Born and raised in India, gay Muslim director Parvez Sharma is a journalist who has worked for the BBC and The Telegraph. He obtained much of his footage for this film surreptitiously, especially in countries such as Iran where homosexuality is a crime punishable by death.
It would be one thing if the gay men and lesbian women that Sharma interviews were content to lead secular lives, but the sting comes in their devotion to their faith.
As much as they might wish to proclaim the love that dare not speak its name, these Indians, Iranians, Pakistanis and Egyptians more fervently wish to reconcile their love of Allah with same-sex preferences.
Muhsin Hendricks, who lives in Cape Town, is a particularly poignant example. He comes from a long line of Islamic scholars. "I was virtually born in a mosque," he says. Aware of his own nature from an early age, he asks God why he had to be this way.
He goes to Pakistan and marries, has three children, then takes the bold step of coming out. As an openly gay Imam, he engages those in his orthodox Muslim community, urging them to see that the Qu'ran has no injunctions against same-sex love.
In Cairo, Sharma finds Mazen, who was raped and tortured in prison following a raid on a gay club. "God has given me patience," he says, from his refuge in Paris.
A happier story is told about Ferda, a Sufi lesbian in Istanbul, and her girlfriend, Kiymet. The camera follows them on a visit to Ferda's mother, who affectionately embraces her daughter's partner.
Most frightened of all are the Iranian gay men who flee their country to reside in Turkey. Amir shows a photograph of his back after enduring 100 lashes in an hour while in police custody in Iran.
He joins up with three other gay men from his country and waits with them while the UN refugee agency seeks a home for them. Two are granted asylum in Canada, but this victory is bittersweet for the young man who realizes he may never again see his mother.
A Jihad for Love wanders aimlessly from country to country and indulges in long digressions.
A few statistics are scattered about but the documentary lacks a strong framework in which to house these struggles of gay and lesbian Muslims, a jihad that is certainly not confined to their faith.
Parvez Sharma hosts Q & A sessions after evening screenings through Monday.
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