Open CallOpen Call: Pitch Reels
Battling Bias: Islam and the 2008 Election (1:33)
Stuart Harmon, Megan Thompson - Brooklyn, NY
The Pitch:
A Muslim man in Brooklyn walks into the poll knowing he can vote for president, but that he could never succeed as a candidate himself.
A Christian voter in Long Island, suspecting a local candidate might be Muslim, votes for the opposition – without knowing anything about him.
A Muslim youth in Queens speaks out on behalf of a presidential candidate – a candidate who hesitates to speak out on behalf of him.
How is it that during Election 2008, the words "Muslim" and "Islam" have become political dirty words?
The rumors and gossip surrounding candidate Barack Obama's faith have helped expose a sad bias in our nation – a bias that is going largely unchallenged by both the mainstream media and the presidential candidates.
The vast majority of American voters admit they are prejudiced against Muslim Americans and forty percent of Americans say they would be "very uncomfortable" with a Muslim candidate for president. The truth is that most Americans are grossly misinformed about the Islamic faith and its followers.
Meanwhile, thousands of Muslim Americans are preparing for the election – registering in record numbers and working for campaigns. But what’s it like to participate in an election in this kind of climate?
This is the story of the young Muslim activist whose hopes of electing his favorite candidate are overshadowed by the American public's unwillingness to fully accept Islam. We will examine the inherent tensions for Muslims who are working through politics to better our nation – a nation sometimes hostile to their faith.
With over half a million Muslims, the New York City area has one of the largest Islamic populations in the country, many who are deeply involved in this year's election. Our story will go beyond the campaign office and into the activist's home to show how a Muslim family is fairing in today's heated political climate. While the candidates trade barbs over who is the most "Christian," our character struggles daily to gain acceptance from the community around him.
Stylistically, the film takes a poetic approach to following the narrative of our young character as he travels from his home to the campaign office. The camera will follow the progression of the activist's ideas about his candidate and his political views as we follow him throughout his day on the campaign trail, bringing us in close to the values, prayers and traditions that are practiced by Muslims in America. Time lapses, stop motion effects, and emotional music will help will lead the viewer on a creative visual journey into our character's world against the backdrop of bustling New York City.
We are a team of professional filmmakers with extensive experience in documentary film, television news and advertising. We believe that a personal, political tale of a Muslim in New York City is crucial to bringing a fresh perspective to this year's election coverage. Our hope is that the film will help expose the POV audience to a set of important voices that often overlooked in Americas political world.
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re dontbeatool comments
'ultimate dictator is the koran' -
as a muslim who largely agrees with the slant of your article but not its underlying bigotry i feel compelled to say a few words - u generalize, which ignores nuances, be that as it may, i think one of the primary reasons that the vast majority of christians do not adhere to the outdated tenets as espoused by the christian right is due to the reforms made in christianity and accepted largely (seperation of church and state, etc.), however, this has not reached sea change level in islam - and i would agree that democracy has indeed, in the west, strengthened this - now to the nuances of islam which u seem to be ignorant of, from my view god's word, and from yours mohammad's, the koran, anticipates spinoza by quite a few hundred years in its appeal to reason - god asks humanity (ad nauseam) in the koran to use reason and knowledge to arrive at the conclusion that there is indeed one god - so i believe in the 'ultimate dictator' argument and solely use reason to arrive at moral decisions except the spiritual, which is a blessing given by the creator to whomever it choses - so i pray to the one that he/she may bless you with a generosity of spirit and understanding and appreciation of the nuances and subtleties of this world
I find the liberal slant here truly compelling and not surprisin
Just as the liberals often smear on Christian fundamentalists here in the U.S., they now are expected not to talk badly of another crazy mass-brainwashing campaign - Islam.(?) Now, my guess is you really don't know much about Islam or the culture surrounding it. Maybe now you are just "exploring" it. However I encourage you to explore it in a way that only a rational mind can appreciate which is namely a scientific empirically-based perspective (or POV, haha).
Islam is at it's core a fiction about how the world works, just as all major religions are, and it is right that people should be afraid of it. In particular we can see that countries that have large amount of Muslims are prone to dictatorship, violence, lack of individual rights, economic hardship and so on. Europeans for centuries have battled to keep the Muslims out in order to preserve a rational, peaceful state and they continue to do so right up to this day, sadly.
Christianity, while not perfect, does not generally in practice espouse the same kinds of problematic philosophies that Islam does, and this is why current or previously Christian dominated countries are more prosperous, safe and have come to be the dominating forces in world politics. Is all of Christianity good? No. But it is better all-in-all than Islam? Yes. The world would be better without either actually, as long as the alternative were rational thinking.
I hope you take this into account before you perhaps leap into some kind of "accepting diversity solves everything" liberal rant (very common on PBS), which is just as stupid as saying we need to have just as many more bad things in the world as good things.
Now, on that note, I'm not saying people who practice Islam are fundamentally "bad." No. The problem lies in the philosophy, not the potential of the person to do good. I believe this is usually the problem with people in most (and I mean MOST!) situations. Are ALL muslims bad? I think not. Are some muslims bad? I think so. Does a country tend to become worse off the more muslims it has? Yes.
The problem with Islam, like most religions, is that it is by sheer nature dictatorial. The ultimate dictator is the Koran, used similarly to how Christian fundamentalists try to wield the Bible and the Jews the Torah. Now I would suppose that you might think poorly about the state of Christian fundamentalists here the in U.S. trying to implement something like I.D. in all of our schools. God knows PBS certainly noticed and took a rightful negative view of it, as most thinking people did as well. However, there was of course a time when people felt like Christianity was such a fine and nice thing. A "Oh let's just sing songs about Jesus and be happy" approach. And yet, once they colluded and got enough power they were (some are still) trying to implement a Christian dictatorship in our country, which is nothing more to say than just a dictatorship as who is to say when something is right or wrong than a person passing judgement ultimately (besides nature)? Just the same as the Muslims everywhere in the world. This is why our constitution has held us in relatively good stead, by trying to avert all religions from becoming seated on the head of our government and allowing reason and judgment to reign, mostly, instead. You can see, if you look carefully, that the fear of people toward Islam is basically justifiable then. The vast majority of "Christians," even fundamentalists in the country know very well that many of it's tenets are a bunch of hooey and you can see now that many are abandoning their previously fervent political desires (thankfully) because they realized it makes more trouble than good.
Well I could go on, but I hope this provides you some insight. Don't get lost in some kind of doldrum of aimless relativity.
the pitch
Sounds like the film could concievably become an anti-Obama film. What do you mean, will his candidate stand up for him? Muslims are active in politics and have been for a very long time in this country-- there are just more Muslims and times have changed as religion and race have overwhelmed and infused this campaign. Is it any wonder after having Bush in office for 7 years? I like the trailer, but your pitch is for something more specifically targeted. What about the Muslims that are working to help the McCain and Clinton campaigns? They exist as well. Why is this film aimed at Obama activists trying to get out the vote for him? I think your film's lens should be widened. Muslims continue to allow themselves to be pegged because there is a sense that Muslims are monolithic. They are NOT. I think your film will be biased if you determine to track one Muslim working only with the Obama campaign. Choose a Muslim working for each campaign and spread the activists' vision of what democracy represents by leaving no candidate's opportunity to engage Muslims as the untold story. Will any of these candidates stand up for what a Muslim activist thinks is important? THAT IS THE QUESTION!!!! And if they won't, why not? ANYBODY can work on a campaign... Why am I supposed to think that this film will be any different? Granted, I have enjoyed the films coming from wgbh, but this script Nah. Muslims working for Obama? That's okay, but NOT if it only looks like it is only Obama that Muslims are supporting. That is not accuracy in media. Not by a long shot!
this film gives voice to those who are faced with extreme bias
awesome pitch! we need this film! not surprised, megs...you keep fighting the good fight!
Muslims in American Politics
The shocking anti-Muslim comments directed at Obama in an attempt to smear him -- just in case racist remarks are no longer effective -- demand a responsible media response. This film seems to expose reflexive prejudice and reaffirm the right of every American to participate in politics. I believe these emerging filmmaker/journalists will produce a quality film.
From Tokyo
Looking forward to seeing your documentary!!
It will ignite important discussions!
Like any good film it has a lot of potential to start important conversations in the country. It looks great!
clear the air
I for one admit I am not informed - this is a challenge to tackle such a hot topic. Godspeed to you both.
Compelling!
There are a lot of muslim physicians I work with that are constantly being discriminated upon by patients...many patients refuse to have these resident friends of mine even be in the same room as them! Glad you are doing this...
A new angle in election politics
Nice work - it's important to get to the truth behind the fear-mongering. A great story.
Battling Bias: Islam and the 2008 Election
this is an incredibly important and timely topic. and.... sadly... if pbs doesn't exlpore it, who will?
A necessary production
This is a very important issue that needs the medium of documentary film to bring out the humanity behind the hearsay. It would be a shame to let this issue go unexamined by these talented filmmakers.
The Elephant in the Room
We have just such an election (several Muslims are running in fact) in MN. This group of Americans are an emerging force in US politics. We need to know what they are facing.
This is an important subject
This is an important subject and could help people get past stereotypes and promote understanding. I'd love to see this.
good timely premise
Appears to be an updated way of exploring the connection between a voter's beliefs and who he/she votes for, as well as what the winning candidate might "owe" those who voted for him/her. A good, timely premise for a film I'd like to see -- the Muslim factor in today's election.
We need this film...
to be made it is a crucial topic. Trailer is compelling! Kudos.