Talented Directors    

Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysia 

Yasmin Ahmad (July 1, 1958 - July 25, 2009) was a critically-acclaimed multi-award winning film director, writer and scriptwriter from Malaysia. Her television commercials, in particular her ads for Petronas, the national oil and gas company, are well-known in Malaysia for their humor, heart and love that cross cultural barriers, Her works have won multiple awards both within Malaysia and internationally. Her first film was RABUN (Sight-Impaired) in 2002. Her work was also featured in a 2007 retrospective hosted by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawaii, and the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Yasmin passed away of a stroke on July 25, 2009. Yasmin made six films in her short, but illustrious career. They were RABUN (2003), SEPET [Slit Eyes] (2004), GUBRA [Anxiety] (2006), MUKHSIN (2007), MUALLAF [The Convert] (2008) and TALENTIME (2009).  

Gutierrez Mangansakan:  

Pioneer Moro Filmmaker     

Gutierrez Mangansakan II (journalist, poet, essayist, filmmaker, editor; Philippines) has written for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Times, Philippine Star, Manila Standard, Manila Bulletin, and Malaya, and provides the column "This Blessed House," for a Mindanao-based news service. His first film, HOUSE UNDER THE CRESECENT MOON, won Best Documentary at the 15th Cultural Center of the Philippines Prize for Independent Film and Video in 2001; his other films have been screened at international film festivals to wide acclaim. Then he produced LIMBUNAN, a glimpse into the life of a bride-to-be in Muslim Mindanao. He is editor of Children of the Ever-Changing Moon, an anthology of essays by young Moro writers.  

Pigeons Mukdasanit, Thailand

Pigeons Mukdasanit, a film director and screenplay writer.  He is a former managing director for Grammy Films Limited and opened the theater school "Bangkok Sofitel Foster Studio." Pigeons Mukdasanit graduated from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Thammasat University. Pigeons works often reflect social problems. He features the life of a young Muslim boy in Southern Thailand in the film "BUTTERFLY AND FLOWER. He received the Lotus Award for lifetime achievement from the Bangkok World Film Festival.

 Hanung Bramantyo, Indonesia

Setiawan Hanung Bramantyo is a director from Indonesia. In 2005, the Indonesian Film Festival selected him as Best Director for the film BROWNIES. At the Film Festival Indonesia 2007 he again won Best Director for the film GET MARRIED. Bramantyo once studied at the Faculty of Economics, Islamic University of Indonesia , but he did not finish his course work. After that he moved into the film world when he joined the Faculty of the Jakarta Arts Institute. His other well-known movies include, AYAT-AYAT CINTA (2008) and PEREMPUAN BERKALUNG SORBAN (2009).

Important Films

 in Southeast Asia 

Thailand: Butterfly and Flowers  

Butterfly and Flower ผีเสื้อและดอกไม

In Butterfly and Flower

ผีเสื้อและดอกไม้, Huyan is a Muslim living in the southern part of Thailand. He has to fight for the survival of his dad, his siblings and himself. He has to think hard when his dad tells him that they are running out of money to live. At the age of 13, he has to leave school although he is the best student in class. He becomes an ice cream seller so his sisters and brothers can go to school. His business doesn't go well, so he has to find other ways to make a living. 

Sepet - Trailer

'

Sepet ' is a Yasmin Ahmad film set in Ipoh, north Malaysia, where two young hearts from different cultural and religious backgrounds cross paths. Orked, a young Malay girl who is a big fan of Chinese film-maker, Wong Kar-Wai befriends Jason, a Chinese boy who sells pirated film VCD. ''Sepet'' threw the question ''Why does society (supposedly being more civilized now-days) still have prejudice against different races and cultures?''

(Verses of Love)  

Ayat Ayat Cinta 1

Ayat Ayat Cinta, adapted from the best-selling novel of the same title by Habiburrahman El Shirazy, is a beautifully portrayed Islamic love story of a virtuous Muslim protagonist who overcomes all obstacles of life, while maintaining pure ideals. As the story unravels, the protagonist makes the audience face the daunting decisions he himself faces, and forces us to marvel at his undying loyalty to the true ideals of Islam as he ultimately makes the choice of a lifetime.

Limbunan Trailer

This film captures the ritual motions of the women in a family as they prepare for the wedding of 16-year-old Ayesah who has been betrothed to a man she barely knows. This movie is the

first Filipino film

invited to International Critics Week of the 67th Venice Film Festival. As Maguindanaon tradition dictates, she will be kept from public view in her private quarters 'limbunan' where she will be prepared, readied, and pampered for her wedding. LIMBUNAN is set in the upheavals of Corazon Aquino's presidency and the days prior to the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which hopes to bring an end to the Moro insurgency in Southern Philippines.

Muslim Film Festivals

Women's Voices from the Muslim World: A Short-Film Festival

A collection of voices from women of all faiths living in Muslim-majority countries and Muslim women living as minorities around the world that fills the void in information created by traditional news, media and art sources. In competition for cash prizes of $35,000, the Women's Voices Now Film Festival was held in Los Angeles from March 17-19, 2011.  

Boston Muslim Film Festival, 

April 6-21, 2011

The Boston Muslim Film Festival harnesses cinema to explore Muslim affairs beyond the headlines for audiences of all backgrounds. Pressing social and civic issues - including terrorism, women's rights, censorship, political repression, and multiculturalism - come into focus through screenings, panel discussions, and artistic performances. Held every spring and fall, the festival also provides a forum to advance public understanding of Muslim American cultural identity.

Special Features 

Call for Participation:

Islamic Film Festival, July 1-4, 2011

The Islamic Society of North America invites films and/or documentaries for its Annual Islamic Film Festival to be held at the 48th Annual ISNA Convention in Rosemont, IL. The film festival provides a platform for filmmakers to showcase and present their work to the convention attendees. Documentaries, feature films, short films, animated films etc are featured that explore the diverse images of Muslims and reflect Islamic history, values, societal issues, ethics, morals, and more.

Deadline for submissions: May 31, 2011

Call for Papers:

International Journal of Islamic Architecture

The International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA) publishes bi-annually, peer reviewed articles on the urban design and planning,
architecture and landscape architecture of the historic Islamic world, encompassing the Middle East and parts of Africa and Asia, but also the more recent geographies of Islam in its global dimensions. The main emphasis is on the detailed analysis of the practical, historical and theoretical aspects of architecture, with a focus on both design and its reception. The journal also aims to encourage dialogue and discussion between practitioners and scholars.  Articles that bridge the academic-practitioner divide are highly encouraged.