For its eighth year, the Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival will present eight films at the Oriental Theatre that celebrate Muslim cultures and experiences worldwide. The festival, organized by Milwaukee Film and the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, aims to promote “a better understanding of the Muslim community and Muslim women,” says Janan Najeeb, founder and executive director of the coalition.
“It’s about using film and using an art form as outreach to create these conversations and bring people in,” Najeeb says. “Film is a medium we thought would be a phenomenal way of reaching people.”
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
The eight screenings are narrative films and documentaries that center Muslim stories from Tunisia to Egypt and Syria to Milwaukee. Opening night will show the PBS documentary special The Wisconsin Muslim Project.
“This is the culmination of a two-year project we did with PBS Wisconsin on creating short films about members of Wisconsin’s Muslim community,” Najeeb says. “It will feature an animation biography of my late father. That’s very personal and exciting for me … He was one of the founders of the largest mosque here in Milwaukee. He was one of the individuals that spent his life working for the community.”
Along with the films, the festival will also have music, food and conversations with Milwaukee’s Muslim community. “We’re bringing a well-known musical duo from Indiana [called] Salaam. They’re going to be playing Middle Eastern instrumental music using traditional instruments,” Najeeb says. “Every culture has certain identifiers, and in Muslim culture, hospitality is very important. What we’re going to do before every film is have some type of food offered before every film.”
Opening night will be free to the public and include an interactive photo gallery of 15 Muslim Wisconsinites by photographer Lila Aryan.
“It’s about promoting understanding and helping make that accessible to everyone who wants to attend. We thought that opening night has such a variety of different things that we wanted people to come out and enjoy,” Najeeb says. “All four days we have phenomenal films. I hope it’s a new experience for people that they see films and ideas that they hadn’t thought about. I hope they meet people they might not normally meet. I hope that they will use this wonderful opportunity to ask any questions they may have.”
The Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival runs Oct. 19-22 at the Oriental Theatre. To learn more about the festival and see the full film schedule, visit Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival.
