After surviving being thrown 40 feet from a moving car, it was then the search for finding his life’s purpose began. Qasim Basir, director of new movie “Mooz-Lum” never wanted to make any movie, but movies that meant something.
Basir’s epiphany spurred new movie “Mooz-Lum”
–– released Tuesday on DVD –– starring Danny Glover, Nia Long, Evan Ross and Roger Guenveur Smith.
The film provides a closer look at
the Muslim religion through the eyes of a young man. The main character Tariq,
played by Ross, was raised by a controlling yet devoted Muslim father, Hassan,
played by Smith. In the movie, despite the wishes of Hassan’s
wife Safiya, played by Long, to
allow their children to live a normal childhood, Hassan wants his son to become
a scholar of the Koran.
The strict upbringing inspired Tariq
to question his religion rather than embrace it.
“A lot of this stuff, I definitely
pulled from the things I was experiencing going through college,” Basir told
the Defender.
He shows audiences what it means to
be Muslim, but also indulges in the hardships of being Muslim as it refers to
young people.
“Every perspective needs to be shared
to an extent especially one that’s a prominent one and there’s a lot of people
in this country that share their story, but their story has never been told,”
the director said.
Basir stressed he hopes the movie
educates audiences about the Muslim culture, especially after the September 11
tragedy that rocked the nation.
“I think there’s a judgment being
passed on most of American’s right now, not really knowing the human side of
Muslim people. I want people to realize that they’re very similar to the
hardships black people went through 40 years ago,” he added.
“Mooz-Lum” has had private showings in Egypt, Indonesia,
Italy, and Saudi. The next stop is Canada on June 16.
Copyright 2011 Chicago Defender
