Omar Majeed
Encyclopedia
Omar Majeed is a Pakistani Canadian
film director
and producer who studied cinema at York University
Film School and later on studied editing at the International Academy of Design in Toronto. He is the son of Musarrat Nazir
. He went on to work as producer Toronto's CityTV
and won a Gemini Award
for his television work. He also worked with Canada's National Film Board through the Reel Diversity program in Montreal
and with EyeSteelFilm
.
He is best known for his 2009 documentary film
Taqwacore
(full title Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam) produced by EyeSteelFilm
about a number of Taqwacore
bands and performers touring the United States
and Pakistan
. Majeed filmed the documentary during the three years 2007 to 2009 and released it on 16 October 2009.
Before Taqwacore, he worked at CityTV as an editor on the shows QT: QueerTelevision
and SexTV
and as a producer at Book Television.
Omar Majeed's 2009 documentary Taqwacore is a look at the Muslim punk movement that sprung Michael Muhammad Knight
's book The Taqwacores
and features members of The Kominas
, Diacritical, Secret Trial Five
, and Al-Thawra
. It has been shown at several international festivals, including the Vancouver International Film Festival
, Montreal's Féstival du nouveau cinéma, the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA), the Gothenburg Film Festival
and the Available Light Film Festival in Whitehorse
. It has played theatrically in Canada and will open across the United States in 2010. The film will have its U.S. premiere at Austin's South by Southwest
Film Festival in March 2010.
Pakistani Canadian
- History in Canada :People from the region that would become Pakistan were among the pioneers who migrated from British India to British Columbia at the turn of the century. By 1905, as many as 200 participated in the building of that first community from modern-day Pakistan, which for a time had...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and producer who studied cinema at York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
Film School and later on studied editing at the International Academy of Design in Toronto. He is the son of Musarrat Nazir
Musarrat Nazir
Musarrat Nazir is a singer and actress who sang and acted in many Urdu and Punjabi films. She also sang solo, mostly wedding and folk songs. She was born to a middle class family on October 13 1940. Her parents were of Kashmiri origin from Lahore...
. He went on to work as producer Toronto's CityTV
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
and won a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
for his television work. He also worked with Canada's National Film Board through the Reel Diversity program in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and with EyeSteelFilm
EyeSteelFilm
EyeSteelFilm is a Montreal-based Canadian cinema production company founded and co-owned by Daniel Cross and Mila Aung-Thwin, dedicated to socially engaged cinema, bringing social and political change through cinematic expression...
.
He is best known for his 2009 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Taqwacore
Taqwacore (film)
The documentary Taqwacore is one of two films based on on Michael Muhammad Knight's book The Taqwacores. In 2008, the book had been made into a feature film by director Eyad Zahra starring actress Noureen DeWulf as Rabeya, actress Rasika Mathur as Fatima, and actor Bobby Naderi as Yusef.The film...
(full title Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam) produced by EyeSteelFilm
EyeSteelFilm
EyeSteelFilm is a Montreal-based Canadian cinema production company founded and co-owned by Daniel Cross and Mila Aung-Thwin, dedicated to socially engaged cinema, bringing social and political change through cinematic expression...
about a number of Taqwacore
Taqwacore
Taqwacore is a subgenre of punk music dealing with Islam, its culture, and interpretation, originally conceived in Michael Muhammad Knight's 2003 novel, The Taqwacores. The name is a portmanteau of hardcore and the Arabic word Taqwa, which is usually translated as "piety" or the quality of being...
bands and performers touring the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Majeed filmed the documentary during the three years 2007 to 2009 and released it on 16 October 2009.
Before Taqwacore, he worked at CityTV as an editor on the shows QT: QueerTelevision
QT: QueerTelevision
QT: QueerTelevision was a Canadian television newsmagazine series, which aired on Citytv and CablePulse 24 in the late 1990s. Focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, the series was hosted by Irshad Manji...
and SexTV
SexTV
SexTV is a Canadian documentary television series which explores many issues about human sexuality. The show premiered in 1998 and spun off a television channel called SexTV: The Channel in 2001....
and as a producer at Book Television.
Omar Majeed's 2009 documentary Taqwacore is a look at the Muslim punk movement that sprung Michael Muhammad Knight
Michael Muhammad Knight
Michael Muhammad Knight is an American Muslim novelist, journalist, and performance artist. His writings are popular among American Muslim youth...
's book The Taqwacores
The Taqwacores
Knight originally self-published The Taqwacores in DIY zine format, giving copies away for free until finding distribution with Alternative Tentacles, the punk record label founded by Jello Biafra. After receiving an endorsement from Peter Lamborn Wilson , the novel was published by radical press...
and features members of The Kominas
The Kominas
The Kominas are a Pakistani-American Desi punk rock band from New York City. The band currently includes Basim Usmani , Imran Ali Malik , Hassan Ali Malik and Abdullah Saeed .- History :...
, Diacritical, Secret Trial Five
Secret Trial Five
-Origins:Sena Hussain formed Secret Trial Five with four friends following 9/11, when she became interested in making music with political messages. Secret Trial Five takes its name from a group of Muslims suspected of terrorism currently held without charge in Canada.-History:In fall 2007, Secret...
, and Al-Thawra
Al-Thawra
Al-Thawra is an experimental crust punk band from Chicago, Illinois. Current members are Marwan Kamel , Micah Bezold , and Mario Salazar .Marwan Kamel once quoted Cesar Chavez, saying that "Revolution starts with one person at a time, talking to...
. It has been shown at several international festivals, including the Vancouver International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
The Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...
, Montreal's Féstival du nouveau cinéma, the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA), the Gothenburg Film Festival
Gothenburg Film Festival
Göteborg International Film Festival is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden, launched in 1979. The first year the festival showed 17 films on 3 screens, and had 3 000 visitors. Today, the film festival is the biggest in Scandinavia and takes place 10 days every year between January and...
and the Available Light Film Festival in Whitehorse
Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse is Yukon's capital and largest city . It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1476 on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which originates in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in...
. It has played theatrically in Canada and will open across the United States in 2010. The film will have its U.S. premiere at Austin's South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
Film Festival in March 2010.
Director
- 2009: TaqwacoreTaqwacore (film)The documentary Taqwacore is one of two films based on on Michael Muhammad Knight's book The Taqwacores. In 2008, the book had been made into a feature film by director Eyad Zahra starring actress Noureen DeWulf as Rabeya, actress Rasika Mathur as Fatima, and actor Bobby Naderi as Yusef.The film...
- 2005: Stare with Your Ears: Ken Nordine (for BookTelevisionBookTelevisionBookTelevision is a Canadian, English-language, Category A specialty channel that broadcasts programming relating to books, literature, and various media...
)
Editor
- 2008: P.O.V." (1 episode) entitled Up the YangtzeUp the YangtzeUp the Yangtze is a 2007 documentary film directed by Chinese-Canadian director Yung Chang. The film focuses on people affected by the building of the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze river in Hubei, China. The theme of the film is the transition towards consumer capitalism from a farming,...
(as post-production coordinator) - 2001-2003: SexTVSexTVSexTV is a Canadian documentary television series which explores many issues about human sexuality. The show premiered in 1998 and spun off a television channel called SexTV: The Channel in 2001....
- 2000-2001: QT: QueerTelevisionQT: QueerTelevisionQT: QueerTelevision was a Canadian television newsmagazine series, which aired on Citytv and CablePulse 24 in the late 1990s. Focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, the series was hosted by Irshad Manji...
Producer
- 2003-2005: BookTelevisionBookTelevisionBookTelevision is a Canadian, English-language, Category A specialty channel that broadcasts programming relating to books, literature, and various media...
- 2004: SexTVSexTVSexTV is a Canadian documentary television series which explores many issues about human sexuality. The show premiered in 1998 and spun off a television channel called SexTV: The Channel in 2001....
- Heera Mandi/Sex Advice to All Creation/A Moment with... Al Link and Pala Copeland (Editor)
Festivals
Omar Majeed's Taqwacore has been shown in many festivals including:- Vancouver International Film FestivalVancouver International Film FestivalThe Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...
(world premiere) - Montreal's Festival du Nouveau CinémaFestival du Nouveau CinémaThe Festival du Nouveau Cinéma was known as the Montreal Festival of New Cinema and New Media until 2004. Founded in 1971, by Claude Chamberlan and Dimitri Eipides, it is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal and features independent films from around the world...
-- Temps Zero stream - Sheffield Doc/Fest