I went to see the film Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam (2009). It's a documentary, about punk groups with Islamic origins, fighting to spread their expression and for acceptance.
When I went to see this film, I had never heard of the novel "The Taqwacores" by Michael M Knight, nor about the punk scene in islam. The film was three years in the making, and shows how from this book, a whole movement in music started. It started in The United States, where Islamic teenagers were raised in a more western manner and as a were therefore more open to music and art tendencies. As a result they were more free to express themselves among the American society, than in their countries of origin.
Islam doesn't allow guitars nor pianos, and several other music instruments. It also forbids women from singing. But when the book got published, several underground Islamic artists, felt this book was in a way, written about them and how they wanted to live their religion.
After these artists contacted Knight, they kept in touch and decided to go on tour. In The States, they encountered some problems with police, especially because of how afraid the American society is of Islam. The film shows how these groups, using lyrics, symbols and punk philosophy, provoked different entities and groups, even their own Islamic community. Especially when one of the bands goes to Pakistan and tries to tour there, to show what their vision of Islam can be.
The film is also about Knight's journey in this environment. In a way he's traveling inside his own novel, which only existed in his head. It's interesting to see how he in the beginning deals with the rush of the tour and the way the bands live their religion. But also how he struggles with their use of drugs and non-religious way of life. We can see how he, being such an open Muslim, also judges and struggles with those things that his religion tells him are wrong, and the consequences his book has created.
In the end, the film shows a journey of a writer and a music tour. That the only thing they want to do is tell the world that religion can be lived in different ways. And that religion should be a personal choice and not an imposition.
Nini er distribusjonsansvarlig i Montages Shorts, et initativ etablert for å bistå filmskapere og produsenter i distribusjon av nordiske kortfilmer til festivaler og tv-stasjoner verden over.
Bloggenes innhold representerer skribentenes egne meninger, og ikke Film fra Sør Festivalen.
