A British Muslim filmmaker who worked on โStar Warsโ and the โFavouriteโ is set to release his first film aimed at countering misconceptions about Islam and giving Muslims a chance to tell their own stories.
Cinematographer Rizwan Wadan kicked off his project in 2019 to โtackle hatred, extremism, and terrorismโ.
On Wednesday, he will release his film โError in Terrorโ and resume a project in which he talks to people in pubs to dispel myths and promote interfaith dialogue.
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โThe biggest stigma, and the biggest cause of division between the Muslim and non-Muslim world, is that our community is tarnished with the brush of terrorism,โ Wadan told Arab News.
โIn a fight, youโre supposed to take out the biggest guy first, so I thought before I tackle any other stigmas, I need to first set the record straight on terrorism,โ he added.
โI need to make people understand that Islam and Muslims donโt stand for extremism and terrorism. In fact, no religion stands for extremism and terrorism.โ
Clearing Misconceptions
Wadanโs film, produced through his Pixeleyed Pictures company, aims to โseparate Islamic teachings and principles from being associated with terrorism.โ
He chose to release the film on July 7 on the 13th anniversary of 7/7 London bombings clearly announcing that Islam does not support such attacks.
A similar initiative was taken earlier this year by the Department of Religious Studies at the Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) with a project that addresses Islamophobia through media and cinema.
The first film โYour Last Walk in the Mosqueโ was screened on Jan 29, 2019, where it commemorated the January 2017 Islamophobic terrorist shootings in Quebec. It showed the after-effects of the dreadful incident on the Canadian Muslim victims and their families.
The second film โ14 and Muslimโ was broadcasted on February, 2019.
