It's My Country Too: Muslim Americans | |
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Directed by | Clifford Bestall |
Produced by | Ruhi Hamid |
Starring | Salman Ahmad Junoon |
Cinematography | Duncan Russell |
Edited by | Karen O'Connor Film editor: Ashley Smith |
Music by | Junoon |
Distributed by | BBC October Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 58 minutes |
Countries | Pakistan United Kingdom United States |
Languages | Urdu English |
It's My Country Too: Muslim Americans is a 2005 documentary film directed by Clifford Bestall and produced by Ruhi Hamid. The film follows the journey of the South Asian rock music band Junoon during their tours to America and the lives of Salman Ahmad and Muslims in the United States, and the Muslims for Bush pressure group. [1]
On March 3, 2005, It's My Country Too aired on BBC television documentary strand This World . [2]
The film follows the journey of the Pakistani rock star Salman Ahmad, a US citizen of Pakistani origin, asking fellow Muslims what it is like to be Muslim in post-9/11 America.
In the run-up to Election Day, Ahmad tours the US, performing with his band Junoon and talking to America’s Muslims. More than half the world’s Muslim population lives in the western world, which testifies to the fact that there is no "clash of civilisations". In fact, Islam is more in tune with the Republican than the Democratic Party as 55% of American Muslims vote Republican. But, since September 11, Muslims have been victims of a constant barrage of media insinuation, and even outright attacks on Islam and its adherents. Will this change the way they vote?
Under attack, Muslims have been forced into making choices. Previously apolitical Muslims have come to realise that they can no longer sit on the fence. Salman talks to wealthy, conservative Arabs and Pakistanis, who have donated huge sums to the Republican Campaign. He also sees victims of racial profiling and The Patriot Act, and those who abhor the war in Iraq, take to the streets on behalf of the Democrats.
Salman concludes that the perceived clash of cultures between the Western world and Islam is in fact a split deep in the American psyche. While the Muslim community is finding its identity, America is fighting for its very soul.
Junoon is a Pakistani sufi rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, and Tappan, New York, formed in 1990.
Vital Signs were a Pakistani pop and rock band formed in Rawalpindi in 1986 by two Peshawar University students. After their formation, they soon became Pakistan's first and most commercially successful as well as critically acclaimed act. The band's popular lineup consisted of keyboardist Rohail Hyatt, bassist Shahzad Hasan, guitarist Nusrat Hussain and vocalist Junaid Jamshed. Rooted in Rawalpindi with some influence from Western music during the conservative regime of President Zia-ul-Haq, the Vital Signs utilizes several genres, ranging from pop music to rock, and often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. In the early 1990s, they came to be perceived by many Pakistani fans and country's cultural observers as a "promising new era of cultural revival". Their enormous popularity significantly opened a new wave of music and a modern chapter in the history of Pakistan.
Salman Ahmad is a Pakistani born-American musician, rock guitarist, physician, activist, occasional actor and professor at the City University of New York.
Junoon for Peace is the first live album and the eleventh overall album by the Pakistani band, Junoon. The album was recorded live on October 27, 2001.
Mohammad Salman Hamdani was a Pakistani American New York City Police Department cadet and emergency medical technician who was killed in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, where he had gone to try to help people. In the weeks following 9/11, reports surfaced that the missing Hamdani was being investigated for possible involvement with the perpetrators, but this suspicion proved to be false and he was subsequently hailed as a hero by the New York City mayor and police commissioner.
Talat Hamdani is a Pakistan-born American who became a commentator after her son was killed during Al Qaeda's attacks on September 11, 2001. Her eldest son, Mohammad Salman Hamdani, was a New York Police Department cadet, who had trained as a first responder.
"Ghoom Taana" is a song by Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon. It was released as the fifth and final single from their seventh full-length studio album, Dewaar. The single also featured in Salman Ahmad's debut solo album, Infiniti. The song was originally sung jointly by Ali Noor, vocalist of Noori, and Ali Azmat. However, the duet sung with Shubha Mudgal featured only Salman Ahmad for the male vocals. In 2016, a new rendition of the song featured in the band's eighth studio album, Door.
The Rock Star and the Mullahs is a 2003 documentary film directed by Ruhi Hamid and Angus MacQueen and by producer Pamela Friedman. The film follows the journey of the South Asian rock music band Junoon and addresses music in Islam. The film won the "Outstanding story on South Asia - Broadcast" award at the South Asian Journalists Association Awards.
Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution is a book written by Salman Ahmad, published on 12 January 2010 by Simon & Schuster.
"Ehtesaab" is the second track on the 1995 compilation album Kashmakash by the sufi rock band Junoon, and is the second single from the album. After the release of the band's first real big hit single "Jazba-e-Junoon", which was the song of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. "Ehtesaab" was their second hit and was released in December 1996. The video of the single was directed by Pakistani director, Shoaib Mansoor.
Inquilaab – The Story of Junoon is a 44-minute radio broadcast documentary presented by Omar Bilal Akhtar, broadcast on City FM 89, on March 13, 2009. The documentary explores the journey of the South Asian rock music band Junoon and the struggle they face to become one of the biggest band in the world.
Junoon 20 is the fourth compilation album and the nineteenth overall album of the Pakistani band Junoon. The compilation album served as a tribute album for the 20th anniversary of the band and is divided into two volumes. The first edition of the album featured many well known musicians like Bilal Khan, Outlandish, Aag, Usman Riaz and Laal’s Taimur Rahman, paying tribute to Junoon by covering some of the band's famous songs. The first volume of the album was released on September 30, 2011, and was made digitally available on October 5, 2011.
Persecution of Sufis over the course of centuries has included acts of religious discrimination, persecution, and violence both by Sunni and Shia Muslims, such as destruction of Sufi shrines, tombs and mosques, suppression of Sufi orders, murder, and terrorism against adherents of Sufism in a number of Muslim-majority countries. The Republic of Turkey banned all Sufi orders and abolished their institutions in 1925, after Sufis opposed the new secular order. The Islamic Republic of Iran has harassed Sufis, reportedly for their lack of support for the government doctrine of "governance of the jurist".
Door is the ninth studio album and twentieth overall album by the Pakistani rock band Junoon. It was released on 26 December 2016 by Universal Music in Pakistan and India. It is the second Junoon album led by guitarist and singer Salman Ahmad following Ali Azmat's departure in 2005 and a tribute album following the death of former Vital Signs vocalist Junaid Jamshed in plane crash on 07th December 2016, to whom "Khwab" and "Door Bohat Door" are dedicated.