WEBVTT - When the Personal is Made Political 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:15.200 Welcome to woke f with me Danielle Moody. Over the 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:17.560 next four weeks, I will be showcasing a series of 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.320 artists whose work is being showcased this summer as part 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.360 of the Open Call program at the Shed Creative Spaces 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:25.799 in New York City. Admission is free, but I know 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:27.880 a lot of you out there aren't in New York, 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:30.360 so I wanted to bring some of these creative voices 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.040 straight to you to share their artistry and perspective. Last 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:36.000 week on woke a f Daily, which you can hear 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:38.559 five days a week by supporting me at Patreon dot 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:41.479 com slash woke AF, I was joined by the first 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:44.720 in this series of artists, Aisha Amen, director of the 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:48.920 film Friday, which she has transformed into a living exhibition 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:51.320 called the Earth has Been Made a Place of Prayer. 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.880 In our half hour conversation about the how and why 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.880 behind the making of her documentary film, how Muslim and 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:00.840 non Muslim audiences have received the film, and why she 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:04.720 feels filmmakers who are people of color end up being politicized, 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:10.400 despite how personal or a political their work may be. Folks, 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.880 I am so excited to welcome to Woke a F 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:17.080 for the very first time, hopefully not the last time. 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:21.360 Often I talk about art, the power of art and 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:26.360 artists to shift and change hearts and minds, and I'm 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:31.479 really happy to bring Aisha a Mean, a Muslim filmmaker, 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:36.400 native New Yorker who is doing extraordinary work to transform 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:42.120 or transition our idea of the Muslim community of prayer 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:47.720 of mosques, because in America, frankly, we have been indoctrinated 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:54.640 into believing that there is something nefarious about about Islam, 0:01:54.920 --> 0:02:01.680 about the culture and community. Aisha, talk to me about 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:08.080 how you have used your medium of filmmaking to open 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:14.240 up conversation about Islam. Yeah, thank you, Daniel. I'm very 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:17.960 excited to be here. It's a good question and I 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.960 have sort of a loaded to answer. Please. We love 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:25.040 them here on WIKA. Yeah great. I'll start by saying 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.680 that you know, as whether you're a filmmaker or you know, 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:33.440 any kind of visual artist, and you create work that 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:36.560 is personal and you also happen to be a person 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:41.639 of color. Somehow that work is always received as being political, 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:45.240 like it's politicized no matter what it is, even if 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:48.040 it's something that's so personal in your life and very 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:52.120 unique it's still politicized. So I realized that at a 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:54.400 very young age, you know. I started filmmaking when I 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:59.400 was like, you know, twenty twenty one, and I was 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:05.040 just drawn on to this environment of being in you know, 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:08.360 New York City, growing up in the city, being Muslim, 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.079 but not even thinking twice about being Muslim because everyone 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.880 in the city is uniquely themselves and I didn't outright 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.160 face any discrimination in my own city. It was just 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.400 like on the television, in the mainstream views that I 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:25.360 felt that. And when I started creating films that happened 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:30.040 to be about my experience as a Muslim, they were 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:32.840 received and they were politicized, and I was like only 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:37.120 kind of pigeonholed as a Muslim American filmmaker instead of 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:40.400 just a filmmaker. So I always think to myself, like, 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:44.560 and this goes with like other artists as well, and 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.600 like black filmmakers who make personal films and they only 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:51.400 end up getting hired to make black films, or me 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:53.920 getting hired to only make films about the Muslim experience. 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.320 This is sort of a roundabout way of answering your question. 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:02.520 But I feel like it's a very it's a complicated 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:09.880 industry to work in, and I don't make films just 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:13.800 about Islam, but I do. I am Muslim, and I 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:17.279 make personal films, and they also happen to be something 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:21.839 that people watch and consume and learn that about the religion. 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:27.160 So with this particular film that I'm showing at this exhibition, 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:33.080 it's called Friday and it's about it's about a very 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:37.679 historic mosque in New York City, and you know, growing 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:41.200 up in the city, and you know, in New York, 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.320 but also just as a young person, you go to 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.240 mosques every Friday, and it was just a part of 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.120 my life, Like my brothers and my dad would go 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:52.359 to the mosque, especially on Eve, which is like a 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:56.120 Muslim holiday, and it's just a very normal thing. And 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.760 I just wanted to make a film about that because 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.039 I wanted to be around that community again because I 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.960 had been missing it so much. And the way that 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:08.880 it was received by the public was so gratifying, because 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:10.679 people came to me and they said they were learning 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:13.279 something new. They had never known what an inside of 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.839 a mosque looked like or if they were welcome in one. 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:19.040 So something that was personal ended up being something that 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.200 ended up being slightly political, but also like an educational 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.039 experience for the audience. So that's kind of how I 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:30.080 came about making it. What were you for you? It 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:35.120 sounds like you wanted just to express and show a 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:38.520 part of your upbringing. Right, you mentioned your dad and 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.120 your brother and the experiences that you've had attending mosque. 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:46.320 What do you think or what have you heard of 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:50.400 as some of the biggest misconceptions about just the structure 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.400 in and of itself, let alone the prayers and what 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.040 happens on the inside, but just inherently in America it 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:01.000 is very politicized, just you know, and and around the 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:03.359 world just a couple of years ago in New Zealand 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:08.200 mass shooting, right that took the lives of so many people, 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:12.720 and that took place in a mosque unfortunately. So what 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.280 is what did you think about in terms of the 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:18.760 structure in and of itself that you wanted to open 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:22.520 up with regard to the misconceptions that you think have 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:30.960 been placed on your community. Yeah, absolutely, Well, Look, I 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:34.159 didn't grow up surrounded by other Muslims apart from my family, 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.960 Like I have very few friends who are also a Muslim, 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:39.880 and I knew you know, post nine to eleven, that 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:44.640 there was an understanding that this Slam was dangerous, mostly 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:48.119 because there was an ignorance around it and people didn't 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:50.360 take the time to understand what the religion was. It 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:56.960 was just like wholeheartedly deemed as like dangerous and suspicious, 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:00.360 and people who were part of it were also suspicious. 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.599 And you had to look a certain way or act 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.160 a certain way to be Muslim, and you know, I'm not. 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.400 I don't present as being Muslim, like I don't wear 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:13.080 a headscarf. I would have to tell people my name 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:14.640 and they would have to understand that it has like 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.120 an Arabic origin for them to understand that I am 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:21.600 a Muslim American. So I'm navigating the world in this 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.240 way where I don't outwardly look Muslim, but I am. 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.040 And it's a huge part of my life. My friends aren't, 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.800 but my family is. And for the larger part of 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:34.160 my life, I just didn't outwardly tell anyone I was 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.200 because there was obviously a fear that, you know, fear 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:41.040 of judgment. That's just what postal Post nine eleven New 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:45.600 York and America, and honestly, like the Western world was 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:49.960 and it's it's still that way. So with this film, 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:52.800 it was really and I did end up making it 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:57.080 right after New Zealand, which was so heartbreaking. It was 0:07:57.160 --> 0:08:01.240 sort of it was a way to sort of bring 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:05.480 the viewer completely objectively inside of a mosque into a 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:09.080 place that they would have otherwise never stepped inside of, 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:11.840 a place that they think is totally closed off to them. 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.320 Just it's it's an opportunity for them to enter it 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:19.480 visually from their computer screen or wherever they're watching the film, 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:23.440 and to actually destigmatize what happens in mosques. You know, 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:25.840 it's just prayer. It's a place for people to come 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:29.760 and commune. It's a place for people to meet each 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:35.720 other once a week. It's a very emotional experience. It's 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:39.280 spiritual experience. For some people it's an hour every Friday 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:43.120 or they do it, and it's really it's all about 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:45.600 community gathering. And that's really what I wanted to show 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.520 in a totally objective way, you know, with no ulterior motive. 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:51.560 It was just to bring the camera into the space, 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.720 to have the viewer experience it and then have them leave. 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:57.600 And that I felt I could do that the best 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:01.280 with a camera and with the medium of filming. You 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:08.480 mentioned that it has become sort of an educational an 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:11.679 educational tool. I guess I will say, for for lack 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:15.040 of a better term, what has been some of the 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:20.040 most surprising things that people have said after after watching? 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.240 And I'm assuming that for for folks that are talking 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:24.920 to you about it, that this may have been their 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:29.439 first experience going inside of a mosque without physically m 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:33.640 going in totally. Um So, the mosque that I filmed 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:37.800 in is called Musta Takwa and it is located in 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:40.960 sort of the center of Bedstye, which is, you know, 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:47.960 a really old and just culturally incredible neighborhood in Brooklyn, 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.120 but that is also being quickly gentrified. So you have 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:56.360 folks from all overcoming. You live in Bedstye, um recent graduates, 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.320 You have these new developments coming in. You have a 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:01.959 coffee shop where you can get a latte for eight dollars, 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.600 but around the corner you have institutions that have been 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:08.800 there forever. So it's you know, really really diverse in 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:15.160 that way. And I've had, you know, younger millennials really 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.439 like tell me that they've seen the film, whether it 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:22.959 be you know, online or at a festival, and they've 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:26.400 told me that they've always wondered what that sound was 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.400 that they heard every Friday afternoon, and after watching my film, 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.400 they finally understood it. Like Friday afternoon, they could be 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:34.040 on their way to a friend's house, they could be 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.480 getting a coffee, but they hear the call to prayer 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:41.079 which comes from the mosque and stretches, you know, for 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:43.440 several months because it's so loud. There are speakers on 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:45.640 the building, and there are all these people that are 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.600 listening to the call to prayer and not understanding what 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:51.800 it is. And then after watching my film, understanding the 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.240 purpose of it and the meaning of it. And I think, 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.719 you know, that's the most gratifying thing as a filmmaker 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:01.040 and as an artist is having some and understand like 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:05.080 the spiritual significance of the sound. Because I was able 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.520 to teach them that through filmmaking. So that was something 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.520 that that I always get is, oh, the call to prayer, 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:13.959 Like that's what that is. I get that now. It's great. 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.720 You know, it's funny. I remember the first time that 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.280 I did hear a call to a call to prayer, 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:25.679 and I thought that it was such like a beautiful sound, 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:29.000 like it was just like just the repetitive nature of it, 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.080 how it like kind of floats through the air. To 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:36.679 me was just um, something so beautiful and I and 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:40.880 I and I have I have not um ventured inside 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:44.080 of a mosque. I've always viewed from the outside, just 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:50.199 the gorgeous architecture, the stunning art um that I for. 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:52.440 For me, it's like the art of it. I'm just like, 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:54.840 oh my god, this is this is absolutely beautiful and 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:57.720 would love to travel and see it. What is the 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:04.640 What is the reception that you receive as a young 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:12.920 woman Muslim filmmaker from the Muslim community. It's been varied. 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.520 I think the best way I can describe it is 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.200 by telling you the story of how I finally got 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.559 the permission to film inside the mosque as a woman. 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.040 I will say least I want to know that story. 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:31.679 It's it's really funny. I think. Um. You know, as 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:35.559 a filmmaker, but especially in documentary filmmaking, you have it's 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.560 you have to follow the ethical code and you have 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.120 to respect the people that you're filmmaking and if you're not, 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.160 you're doing it the wrong way. And that's just something 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.040 that I have to put out there. You're doing it 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:48.160 unethically and I knew that going in, and you know, 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:50.400 I said, Okay, this is my community, Like I feel 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:53.320 a little bit more comfortable doing this. And I would 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.640 go to Mushatakua and I would ask to speak with 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:57.640 the head of security. I would ask to speak with 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:01.080 the head of the mosque, and they just didn't trust 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:05.080 me at first. They just didn't trust me bringing a 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:08.439 camera into the space and letting their congregants be vulnerable 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:12.880 to media because they've had bad experiences before. They're living 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.400 in post nine eleven America, and they don't know what 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:18.800 my intention was, even if I was Muslim, Like, it 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:20.520 doesn't matter, I was going to say, because does it? 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:22.520 I was going to say it did it not matter? 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:24.800 It didn't matter at first. No, it did not matter 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:28.720 at first because I wasn't part of their community. You know, 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.400 it's such a vast religion and there are little pockets 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:33.360 within it of communities in New York, and I was 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.880 a part of theirs, and I was a stranger coming 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:38.080 into their space. So I had to gain their trust 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:41.079 over time. Every Friday I would go and spend the 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:43.640 day there. I would sit with the head of security. 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.080 I would explain to him what I'm doing. I would 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.080 call him all the time. I built this web of 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:53.160 trust with him because I wanted him to like me. Honestly, 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:54.560 First of all, I wanted him to like me, and 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:56.720 also I wanted him to be comfortable with a camera 0:13:56.840 --> 0:13:59.880 being in his space, and I wanted everyone there to 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.400 be okay with it. So I just spent a lot 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.160 of time there and then eventually, you know, it took 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:10.559 a lot of work, but they trusted me, and the 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:14.520 reception has been, you know, ever since releasing if I'm publicly, 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:19.560 the reception has been just amazing. Nobody cares that I'm 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:23.560 a woman who made it. Nobody really. I mean, it's 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:25.480 important that I am a Muslim and I was able 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:31.000 to represent my community in this way. People, especially Muslims, 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.520 have been thanking me for it. They've been congratulating me 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.000 on it. They've been saying things like this is much needed, 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:41.200 and I'm glad that this exists because I didn't necessarily 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:42.800 make it for them, but I made it for people 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:44.960 that have never been inside of a mosque before. So 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.520 they were thanking me for educating the public in that way. 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:52.600 I mean, you probably gave folks something that they can 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:56.520 use right. It's it's not like we are. We are 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:02.000 a visual an attack time people, right, So there's only 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:04.080 so much that kind of goes in one ear and 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:08.640 out the other. But you've given them something to explore, right, Um. 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:15.440 And I'm curious, did the head of security did he watch? Yes? 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:19.280 What was what was after building all of this trust, 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.800 what was his reaction to what he saw? I wish 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:23.840 it was more. I wish I could have built up 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:28.240 to like him having an incredible response like you mean, 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:30.400 he didn't have an aha momment and not have an 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:33.840 aha moment. Shockingly, he just said, oh, I shure, that's nice. 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:37.160 That's nice. That's nice that you did. But that's good. Yeah, 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.640 but that's good about it. Um. He was positive about it. 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:44.960 And I think you know it wasn't that interesting to 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.040 him because he said, this is my life and you 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.520 just recorded it, right, you know the experiences every day, 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.440 this is my life and you recorded it. So that's great. Um. 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:55.920 And yeah, I think you know he was happy with it. 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.480 And that's all like, because if he wasn't, and if 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:00.400 there are other people part of the Moss of the 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.880 Mustard community that didn't like it, then I would have 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.400 like a problem releasing it publicly because I wasn't accurately 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.560 representing them, so I got the okay and after that 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:15.400 it was like smooth sailing. I love documentary filmmaking for 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.960 that reason because it's so exploratory in a way that 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.440 doesn't seem I can't think of who can't think of 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:24.600 the word that I'm trying to that I'm trying to 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:29.480 grab for right now. But it's exploration without invasiveness, that's 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.840 really what And I think that that's what documentary filmmaking 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:36.000 offers for us, to be able to travel and transport 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:44.320 ourselves to a place without feeling like we are colonizers. Absolutely, 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:48.280 and that's why it's important to have filmmakers from those 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.440 communities that they're filming, because they really understand what they're 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:53.760 filming and how to treat it with respect. And I 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:59.480 always think, you know, when has the Muslim community ever 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:03.440 been portray trade on a camera positively and beautifully? There's 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:08.159 always it's always politicized, and it's always traumatizing. It's like, 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:12.199 I'm always hearing about my community horrible things about it, 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.520 whether they're debating whether you should wear the headscarf or not, 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.960 or whether they're debating you know, if this person is 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.119 a terrorist or not. It's there's always these connotations. And 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:23.720 I had never seen anything that was just positive and 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:27.680 beautiful and wonderful, and I thought, I'm going to do that, 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.879 Like I'm going to make that film that shows people 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.960 that Friday prayer is an absolutely wonderful and beautiful and 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:40.440 spiritual and peaceful experience for millions of people in this country. 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:42.920 And you should know what it is, and you shouldn't 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.280 watch mainstream media and consume only these like trigger words, 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:50.280 yeah it's a Muslim community. Instead, you should watch my film. Yes, 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:53.400 just move promo over myself, but like, you should watch 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.240 my film and understand, Oh, this is what a daily 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:57.639 life and like, this is what a day in the 0:17:57.640 --> 0:17:59.800 life of a Muslim New Yorker is actually like on 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:03.120 a Friday, and it's so incredibly interesting. And the same 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:07.520 goes with cinema in general, whether it be cinema made 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:11.280 by the gay community or the black community, Like when 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.440 have we ever heard of stories that are just beautiful 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.199 and should be told and are not traumatizing and not 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:21.359 feeding into these stereotypes that just exists to show the 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:25.399 absolute joy of these communities and how wonderful they are 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.720 and the positives you hardly see it, I have to 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:31.919 say because it doesn't sell as well. I was just 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.080 going to say because at the end of the day, 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:38.159 it is about the monetization of pain and trauma, and 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:42.200 there is seems to be in an appetite that never 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:47.199 ceases and is particularly in America for the trauma and 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:52.720 the pain of black and brown people and marginalized communities. 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:54.520 And that is what they will pay for, and that 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.399 is what they want to see. But when you do 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.800 something which shouldn't be radical, right, but what you've done, 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.320 you know is radical because I'm going to show beauty 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:06.560 and I'm not going to politicize that beauty. I'm going 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.200 to show peace. I'm not going to politicize that piece. 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:12.080 I'm just going to bring you into this space. How 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.680 you interpreted and what you how you internalize, that is 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:18.720 going to be left to you. But like, here's what 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:21.800 I'm allowing you to pull back this curtain and see 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:25.280 for yourself, not it filtered through how other people want 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:26.920 you to see it and how they want you to 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:31.640 interpret it. And that is that is capital that's capitalistic, right, 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:34.679 Like I you know, everybody needs to make money. Artists 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.600 especially need to you know, need to make money. But 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:42.639 it's the how, um that I think is incredibly important. Um, 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:46.639 I should tell people where they can see your film, 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.600 how they can access you, how they can follow you, 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:53.760 because everyone needs to. Well, thank you very much. So 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.840 the film Friday is currently a Vimeo staff pick, so 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:02.600 it's online available to watch free on your computer, and 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:05.919 it's also going to be turned into a multi channel 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:12.760 video installation where I'm essentially reconstructing and building like a 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:16.119 mobile mosque in a gallery space with prayer mats and 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:19.360 with the film on like several screens, so you can 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:21.320 walk into the gallery space and you can experience what 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:23.399 it's like to be in a real mosque, except you're 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:27.000 in a museum. That museum is called the Shed and 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:29.760 it's in Hudson Yards in New York. It's part of 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:34.119 the Open Call program and it's starting June third, and 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:35.879 it's going to run through the summer, and it is 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:38.760 free and available to the public, which is my favorite 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:41.840 part about it is that it's super accessible for people 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.439 to come and see. Yeah, So the film is being 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:47.720 turned into an instation and that's where you can experience 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.560 it in three D or you can experience it digitally 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:58.560 on your computer online. In my half hour conversation with Ishaman, 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:01.800 we also got into talking about the role artists and 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:05.160 creators play in society, and she even asked me about 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:07.760 my own perspective as a creator, a question I can 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:10.720 say I have never been asked before on my own podcast. 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:14.120 To hear our entire discussion, head over to patreon dot 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:17.560 com slash woke f and join woke f Nation, where 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:20.160 you'll get hundreds of past shows and five brand new 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:23.200 full length shows every single week. I'm excited to share 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:25.800 the rest of my conversations with these incredible up and 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:29.280 coming artists, the next of which is already up on Patreon. 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:32.920 Jeff Sayan, have an incredible week, and until next time, 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:35.760 Power to the people and to all the people. Power, 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:38.120 get woke and stay woke as fuck.