Sheffield DocFest, short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.
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" (تقوى), which is usually translated as "piety" or the quality of being "God-fearing", and thus roughly denotes reverence and love of the divine. The scene is composed mainly of young Muslim artists living in the US and other Western countries, many of whom openly reject traditionalist interpretations of Islam, and thus live their own lifestyle within the religion or without.
The Kominas are a punk rock band formed in 2005 by two Pakistani-Americans from Worcester, Massachusetts. In over ten years, the band has experienced a number of line-up changes and self-released albums.
The Taqwacores is the debut novel by Michael Muhammad Knight, depicting a fictitious Islamic punk rock scene. The title is a portmanteau of taqwa, an Islamic concept of love and fear for Allah, and Hardcore, the punk rock subgenre. Some of the most popular taqwacore bands are: The Kominas, Al-Thawra, Secret Trial Five, and Fedayeen.
Michael Muhammad Knight is an American novelist, essayist, and journalist. His writings are popular among American Muslim youth. The San Francisco Chronicle described him as "one of the most necessary and, paradoxically enough, hopeful writers of Barack Obama's America," while The Guardian has described him as "the Hunter S. Thompson of Islamic literature," and his non-fiction work exemplifies the principles of gonzo journalism. Publishers Weekly describes him as "Islam's gonzo experimentalist." Within the American Muslim community, he has earned a reputation as an ostentatious cultural provocateur.
Dominic Rains is an American actor, best known for his roles in independent films, including The Taqwacores (2010) and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), as well as his role as Dr. Crockett Marcel in Chicago Med and as Kasius, the main antagonist of the first part of the fifth season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
A number of overlapping punk rock subgenres have developed since the emergence of punk rock in the mid-1970s. Even though punk genres at times are difficult to segregate, they usually show differing characteristics in overall structures, instrumental and vocal styles, and tempo. However, sometimes a particular trait is common in several genres, and thus punk genres are normally grouped by a combination of traits.
Secret Trial Five is a Canadian five-piece political punk rock band formed in 2006 in Vancouver.
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 Pakistani actress and singer 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.
Al-Thawra is an experimental metal punk band with rhythms and modes that draw heavily on Middle Eastern influences. Band member Marwan Kemal describes a "third identity" between the "false dichotomy of East and West", pointing out that "in the Middle East, I'm still always 'the American kid'". Kemal grew up in Chicago—the band's bassist Mario Salazar is Mexican, and Sahar Salameh joined the band as a vocalist when she was 16 years old. Kamel's father is Syrian, but his mother was raised Catholic—he says he is "more influenced by the mystical paths in Islam. Like Sufism." The Islamic Monthly describes the band as challenging "mainstream Arab and Muslim 'Americaness'" Their musical genre has various been described as taqwacore and raïcore.
The Taqwacores is a 2010 film adaptation of the 2003 novel The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight. The film was directed by Eyad Zahra and stars Bobby Naderi, Dominic Rains, and Noureen Dewulf. The film imagines a fictitious Islamic punk rock scene through characters living in a punk house in Buffalo, New York. It was filmed in Cleveland, Ohio.
A Road to Mecca – The Journey of Muhammad Asad, also known as A Road to Mecca, is a 2008 documentary by Austrian filmmaker Georg Misch. The documentary traces the path of Muslim scholar and political theorist Muhammad Asad, which led to his conversion to Islam.
The Big Melt is a documentary film about the Sheffield steel industry which combines archive footage with a live soundtrack. It was produced by Heather Croall and Mark Atkin and Martin Rosenbaum and directed by Jarvis Cocker and Martin Wallace for the 20th annual Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2013, to celebrate the centenary of the steel industry. The film was made using footage from the BFI National Archive. The film was commissioned by BBC Storyville and BBC North in association with the BFI, using public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Beautiful Noise is a 2014 American music documentary film, written and directed by Eric Green. The film documents three rock bands—Cocteau Twins, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine—and their influence on shoegazing and other alternative rock genres. Beautiful Noise features extracts from over 50 interviews with bands and artists, as well as archival footage and music videos.
Father, Son, and Holy War is a 1995 film by Indian documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan. The film is shot in two parts, with the first examining the link between the violence of the Hindu nationalist movement, such as the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and sexual violence against women. The second part looks at the nature of masculinity in contemporary urban India, and its role in encouraging sexual violence. As with other films of his, Patwardhan had to fight multiple court battles in order to force the national carrier Doordarshan to screen the film, a screening which eventually occurred on the orders of the Supreme court. The film received numerous national and international awards, and was also seen positively by critics.
A Sinner in Mecca is a 2015 documentary film from director Parvez Sharma. The film chronicles Sharma's Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia as an openly gay Muslim. The film premiered at the 2015 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival to critical acclaim as well as negative controversies. The film opened in theaters in the US on September 4, 2015, and is a New York Times Critics' Pick.
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah is a 2015 documentary-short film exploring the life and work of French director Claude Lanzmann. The film was written, directed, and produced by British filmmaker and journalist Adam Benzine.
Among the Believers is a 2015 documentary film directed by Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Ali Naqvi and produced by Jonathan Goodman Levitt and Hemal Trivedi. The executive producer was Whitney Burton Dow and co-producers were Naziha Ali and Syed Musharaf Shah. The film had its US premiere at Tribeca Film Festival on April 17, 2015 and was pitched at the 2013 MeetMarket as part of Sheffield Doc/Fest. After its theatrical release, it aired on television on World's Doc World.
Mohammed Ali Naqvi is a Pakistani filmmaker based in New York City. He is known for documentaries which shed light on the socio political conditions of Pakistan, and feature strong characters on personal journeys of self-discovery. Notable films include Insha’Allah Democracy (2017), Among the Believers (2015), Shame (2007), and Terror’s Children (2003).
King Rocker is a 2020 British documentary film directed by Michael Cumming and written by Stewart Lee about the singer Robert Lloyd and his bands, The Prefects and The Nightingales. It premiered at the 2020 Sheffield Doc/Fest, before being shown on Sky Arts, with its premiere on the network being on 6 February 2021.
