• Mosquers film festival kicked off Friday in Edmonton.
• Over 1,000 films submitted for 2023 event, with eight selected as finalists.

In a celebration of Muslim creatives, Edmonton’s annual Mosquers film festival kicked off Friday, bringing Muslim film, spoken word, comedy, and calligraphy to the Winspear Center.

First launched in 2007 by a group of Muslim students at the University of Alberta, the Mosquers, a combination of Muslim and Oscars, still works 14 years on to combat misconceptions about Islam and Muslims, CTV News.

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“It’s generally a celebration of Muslim creatives and art,” said Yasir Iqbal, the festival’s outreach director.

“Filmmakers use our festival to discuss and share their films and narratives that they feel like might be underrepresented in traditional media or social media,” Iqbal said.

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For the 2023 event, over 1,000 films were submitted from all over the world, with eight being selected as finalists to be screened throughout the weekend.

According to Iqbal, the event welcomes everyone, Muslim or not. It also features a combination of universal and Muslim-specific themes across genres.

“Our filmmakers really decide what you leave with,” Iqbal said. “A lot of times, the films are touching on subjects that are relevant to what’s happening in the world, how Muslims are feeling.

“But they also are sometimes the director’s artistic vision of a completely separate story that they came up with.

“So audiences sometimes feel inspired, they laugh, they learn, and that’s kind of the purpose of the Mosquers.”

The film festival comes as Canada marks the annual Muslim Heritage Month in October.

Every October, Canadian Muslims mark Islamic Heritage Month with events to celebrate and educate about the rich Muslim heritage.

The IHMC Theme for 2023 is “Celebrating Muslim Women in the Arts & Sciences”.

It aims to honor the historical contributions of Muslim women through the ages and their influence on the progress of the Arts, Sciences, and Society.