H O M E G R O W N H O M I E S
Production Series devoted towards the celebration and exploration of nuanced Muslim American Narratives.
“Watchful Eyes”:
Dr. Ingrid Mattson was told that dogs are haram (forbidden) when she first converted to Islam. When she became a scholar and the first female president of ISNA, one of the largest Muslim organizations in the world, she decided to get a dog named Ziggy to protect her family.
Chef Aleem:
Short Documentary profile of Chef Aleem, based in Toronto, who overcame one traumatic incident that he refused to let define him.
30 D A Y S R A M A D A N
Director and Producer of two documentary shorts for the 30 Days Ramadan project:
Mohammad Boota walks the streets of NYC waking Muslims up for the morning prayer with a dhol drum during Ramadan - a rich tradition he inherited from his family in Pakistan. He came to America in 1992 and spent 9 years saving enough money to bring the rest of his family over.
This is this story of holding onto traditions in a new place, and a son inheriting his father's legacy.
Malcolm X founded the mosque Masjid Abdul Muhsi Khalifah in Brooklyn. Once a thriving Muslim community, as decades passed, the youth's involvement in the mosque slowly began to fade.
But now, a new generation of young Muslims have stepped up to get involved, reclaim and remember the spirit that Malcolm built.