DOC Ottawa-Gatineau in association with the Mayfair Theatre is proud to sponsor the Ottawa premiere screening of the documentary film “Taqwacore:The Birth of Punk Islam” Friday, January 22, 9:00 pm at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank Street, Ottawa.

Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam 82 minutes | 14A | DV | Omar Majeed | Canada Ottawa Premiere | Director Omar Majeed in attendance!

Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam

“Taqwa” (the Arabic word for "higher consciousness”) is at the heart of this doc, which explores a budding music scene that “celebrates Islam while rebelling, in typical punk fashion, against the social and political constraints of the religion… [and] proves every culture has at least one unexplored underbelly.” Three years in the making, this feature documentary follows the progression of the Muslim Punk scene: from its imaginary inception in a novel written by a white-convert named Michael Muhammad Knight to a full-blown, real-life scene of Muslim punk bands and their fans.

When he was 17, Michael Knight left his mother’s home in Rochester to study Islam at a Pakistani madrassa. It was his first act of rebellion – against his abusive, schizophrenic, white-supremacist father. Years later, burned out on the demands of religious dogma, Mike rebelled once more – by penning a Muslim Punk manifesto called The Taqwacores. His work of fiction struck a chord with young Muslims around the world and before long, real-life Taqwacore bands were creating a scene. This film follows Michael and his band of Muslim punks as they journey across the U.S. and Pakistan, transforming their worlds, their religion and themselves through the spirit of Taqwacore.

Film details and trailer: http://www.taqwacore.com/

Repeat Screenings Saturday January 23 at 9:00pm Sunday January 24 at 9:00pm Monday January 25 at 9:10pm

For the complete Mayfair Theatre December movie schedule: http://mayfairtheatre.ca/schedule/

Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) is a national organization that represents independent documentary filmmakers across Canada. It is a member-driven organization dedicated to promoting, supporting and developing the art form of documentary filmmaking.

“DOC Ottawa-Gatineau Presents Docs at the Mayfair Theatre”, a series of monthly documentary film screenings, is our chapter’s way of supporting the screening of Canadian and international documentaries for the local community?

DOC Ottawa-Gatineau Chapter (https://docorg.ca/ottawa-gatineau)