When the Personal is Made Political

straight to you to share their artistry and perspective. Last week on woke a f Daily, which you can hear five days a week by supporting me at Patreon dot com slash woke AF, I was joined by the first in this series of artists, Aisha Amen, director of the film Friday, which she has transformed into a living exhibition called the Earth has Been Made a Place of Prayer.

In our half hour conversation about the how and why behind the making of her documentary film, how Muslim and non Muslim audiences have received the film, and why she feels filmmakers who are people of color end up being politicized, despite how personal or a political their work may be. Folks, I am so excited to welcome to Woke a F for the very first time, hopefully not the last time.

Often I talk about art, the power of art and artists to shift and change hearts and minds, and I'm really happy to bring Aisha a Mean, a Muslim filmmaker, native New Yorker who is doing extraordinary work to transform or transition our idea of the Muslim community of prayer of mosques, because in America, frankly, we have been indoctrinated into believing that there is something nefarious about about Islam,

about the culture and community. Aisha, talk to me about how you have used your medium of filmmaking to open up conversation about Islam. Yeah, thank you, Daniel. I'm very excited to be here. It's a good question and I have sort of a loaded to answer. Please. We love them here on WIKA. Yeah great. I'll start by saying that you know, as whether you're a filmmaker or you know, any kind of visual artist, and you create work that is personal and you also happen to be a person

of color. Somehow that work is always received as being political, like it's politicized no matter what it is, even if it's something that's so personal in your life and very unique it's still politicized. So I realized that at a

very young age, you know. I started filmmaking when I was like, you know, twenty twenty one, and I was just drawn on to this environment of being in you know, New York City, growing up in the city, being Muslim, but not even thinking twice about being Muslim because everyone in the city is uniquely themselves and I didn't outright face any discrimination in my own city. It was just like on the television, in the mainstream views that I

felt that. And when I started creating films that happened to be about my experience as a Muslim, they were received and they were politicized, and I was like only kind of pigeonholed as a Muslim American filmmaker instead of just a filmmaker. So I always think to myself, like, and this goes with like other artists as well, and like black filmmakers who make personal films and they only end up getting hired to make black films, or me getting hired to only make films about the Muslim experience.

This is sort of a roundabout way of answering your question. But I feel like it's a very it's a complicated industry to work in, and I don't make films just about Islam, but I do. I am Muslim, and I make personal films, and they also happen to be something that people watch and consume and learn that about the religion.

So with this particular film that I'm showing at this exhibition, it's called Friday and it's about it's about a very historic mosque in New York City, and you know, growing up in the city, and you know, in New York, but also just as a young person, you go to mosques every Friday, and it was just a part of my life, Like my brothers and my dad would go to the mosque, especially on Eve, which is like a

Muslim holiday, and it's just a very normal thing. And I just wanted to make a film about that because I wanted to be around that community again because I had been missing it so much. And the way that it was received by the public was so gratifying, because people came to me and they said they were learning something new. They had never known what an inside of a mosque looked like or if they were welcome in one.

So something that was personal ended up being something that ended up being slightly political, but also like an educational experience for the audience. So that's kind of how I came about making it. What were you for you? It sounds like you wanted just to express and show a part of your upbringing. Right, you mentioned your dad and your brother and the experiences that you've had attending mosque.

What do you think or what have you heard of as some of the biggest misconceptions about just the structure in and of itself, let alone the prayers and what happens on the inside, but just inherently in America it is very politicized, just you know, and and around the world just a couple of years ago in New Zealand mass shooting, right that took the lives of so many people,

and that took place in a mosque unfortunately. So what is what did you think about in terms of the structure in and of itself that you wanted to open up with regard to the misconceptions that you think have

been placed on your community. Yeah, absolutely, Well, Look, I didn't grow up surrounded by other Muslims apart from my family, Like I have very few friends who are also a Muslim, and I knew you know, post nine to eleven, that there was an understanding that this Slam was dangerous, mostly because there was an ignorance around it and people didn't

take the time to understand what the religion was. It was just like wholeheartedly deemed as like dangerous and suspicious, and people who were part of it were also suspicious. And you had to look a certain way or act a certain way to be Muslim, and you know, I'm not. I don't present as being Muslim, like I don't wear a headscarf. I would have to tell people my name and they would have to understand that it has like an Arabic origin for them to understand that I am

a Muslim American. So I'm navigating the world in this way where I don't outwardly look Muslim, but I am. And it's a huge part of my life. My friends aren't, but my family is. And for the larger part of my life, I just didn't outwardly tell anyone I was because there was obviously a fear that, you know, fear of judgment. That's just what postal Post nine eleven New York and America, and honestly, like the Western world was

and it's it's still that way. So with this film, it was really and I did end up making it right after New Zealand, which was so heartbreaking. It was sort of it was a way to sort of bring the viewer completely objectively inside of a mosque into a place that they would have otherwise never stepped inside of, a place that they think is totally closed off to them. Just it's it's an opportunity for them to enter it visually from their computer screen or wherever they're watching the film,

and to actually destigmatize what happens in mosques. You know, it's just prayer. It's a place for people to come and commune. It's a place for people to meet each other once a week. It's a very emotional experience. It's spiritual experience. For some people it's an hour every Friday or they do it, and it's really it's all about community gathering. And that's really what I wanted to show in a totally objective way, you know, with no ulterior motive.

It was just to bring the camera into the space, to have the viewer experience it and then have them leave. And that I felt I could do that the best with a camera and with the medium of filming. You mentioned that it has become sort of an educational an educational tool. I guess I will say, for for lack of a better term, what has been some of the most surprising things that people have said after after watching?

And I'm assuming that for for folks that are talking to you about it, that this may have been their first experience going inside of a mosque without physically m going in totally. Um So, the mosque that I filmed in is called Musta Takwa and it is located in sort of the center of Bedstye, which is, you know, a really old and just culturally incredible neighborhood in Brooklyn, but that is also being quickly gentrified. So you have

folks from all overcoming. You live in Bedstye, um recent graduates, You have these new developments coming in. You have a coffee shop where you can get a latte for eight dollars, but around the corner you have institutions that have been there forever. So it's you know, really really diverse in

that way. And I've had, you know, younger millennials really like tell me that they've seen the film, whether it be you know, online or at a festival, and they've told me that they've always wondered what that sound was that they heard every Friday afternoon, and after watching my film,

they finally understood it. Like Friday afternoon, they could be on their way to a friend's house, they could be getting a coffee, but they hear the call to prayer which comes from the mosque and stretches, you know, for several months because it's so loud. There are speakers on the building, and there are all these people that are listening to the call to prayer and not understanding what it is. And then after watching my film, understanding the

purpose of it and the meaning of it. And I think, you know, that's the most gratifying thing as a filmmaker and as an artist is having some and understand like the spiritual significance of the sound. Because I was able to teach them that through filmmaking. So that was something that that I always get is, oh, the call to prayer, Like that's what that is. I get that now. It's great.

You know, it's funny. I remember the first time that I did hear a call to a call to prayer, and I thought that it was such like a beautiful sound, like it was just like just the repetitive nature of it, how it like kind of floats through the air. To me was just um, something so beautiful and I and I and I have I have not um ventured inside of a mosque. I've always viewed from the outside, just the gorgeous architecture, the stunning art um that I for.

For me, it's like the art of it. I'm just like, oh my god, this is this is absolutely beautiful and would love to travel and see it. What is the What is the reception that you receive as a young woman Muslim filmmaker from the Muslim community. It's been varied. I think the best way I can describe it is by telling you the story of how I finally got the permission to film inside the mosque as a woman. I will say least I want to know that story.

It's it's really funny. I think. Um. You know, as a filmmaker, but especially in documentary filmmaking, you have it's you have to follow the ethical code and you have to respect the people that you're filmmaking and if you're not, you're doing it the wrong way. And that's just something that I have to put out there. You're doing it unethically and I knew that going in, and you know, I said, Okay, this is my community, Like I feel

a little bit more comfortable doing this. And I would go to Mushatakua and I would ask to speak with the head of security. I would ask to speak with the head of the mosque, and they just didn't trust me at first. They just didn't trust me bringing a camera into the space and letting their congregants be vulnerable

to media because they've had bad experiences before. They're living in post nine eleven America, and they don't know what my intention was, even if I was Muslim, Like, it doesn't matter, I was going to say, because does it? I was going to say it did it not matter? It didn't matter at first. No, it did not matter

at first because I wasn't part of their community. You know, it's such a vast religion and there are little pockets within it of communities in New York, and I was a part of theirs, and I was a stranger coming into their space. So I had to gain their trust over time. Every Friday I would go and spend the day there. I would sit with the head of security. I would explain to him what I'm doing. I would call him all the time. I built this web of

trust with him because I wanted him to like me. Honestly, First of all, I wanted him to like me, and also I wanted him to be comfortable with a camera being in his space, and I wanted everyone there to be okay with it. So I just spent a lot of time there and then eventually, you know, it took a lot of work, but they trusted me, and the reception has been, you know, ever since releasing if I'm publicly, the reception has been just amazing. Nobody cares that I'm

a woman who made it. Nobody really. I mean, it's important that I am a Muslim and I was able to represent my community in this way. People, especially Muslims, have been thanking me for it. They've been congratulating me on it. They've been saying things like this is much needed, and I'm glad that this exists because I didn't necessarily make it for them, but I made it for people that have never been inside of a mosque before. So they were thanking me for educating the public in that way.

I mean, you probably gave folks something that they can use right. It's it's not like we are. We are a visual an attack time people, right, So there's only so much that kind of goes in one ear and out the other. But you've given them something to explore, right, Um. And I'm curious, did the head of security did he watch? Yes? What was what was after building all of this trust, what was his reaction to what he saw? I wish

it was more. I wish I could have built up to like him having an incredible response like you mean, he didn't have an aha momment and not have an aha moment. Shockingly, he just said, oh, I shure, that's nice. That's nice. That's nice that you did. But that's good. Yeah, but that's good about it. Um. He was positive about it. And I think you know it wasn't that interesting to him because he said, this is my life and you just recorded it, right, you know the experiences every day,

this is my life and you recorded it. So that's great. Um. And yeah, I think you know he was happy with it. And that's all like, because if he wasn't, and if there are other people part of the Moss of the Mustard community that didn't like it, then I would have like a problem releasing it publicly because I wasn't accurately representing them, so I got the okay and after that

it was like smooth sailing. I love documentary filmmaking for that reason because it's so exploratory in a way that doesn't seem I can't think of who can't think of the word that I'm trying to that I'm trying to grab for right now. But it's exploration without invasiveness, that's really what And I think that that's what documentary filmmaking offers for us, to be able to travel and transport

ourselves to a place without feeling like we are colonizers. Absolutely, and that's why it's important to have filmmakers from those communities that they're filming, because they really understand what they're filming and how to treat it with respect. And I always think, you know, when has the Muslim community ever been portray trade on a camera positively and beautifully? There's

always it's always politicized, and it's always traumatizing. It's like, I'm always hearing about my community horrible things about it, whether they're debating whether you should wear the headscarf or not, or whether they're debating you know, if this person is

a terrorist or not. It's there's always these connotations. And I had never seen anything that was just positive and beautiful and wonderful, and I thought, I'm going to do that, Like I'm going to make that film that shows people that Friday prayer is an absolutely wonderful and beautiful and spiritual and peaceful experience for millions of people in this country. And you should know what it is, and you shouldn't watch mainstream media and consume only these like trigger words,

yeah it's a Muslim community. Instead, you should watch my film. Yes, just move promo over myself, but like, you should watch my film and understand, Oh, this is what a daily life and like, this is what a day in the life of a Muslim New Yorker is actually like on

a Friday, and it's so incredibly interesting. And the same goes with cinema in general, whether it be cinema made by the gay community or the black community, Like when have we ever heard of stories that are just beautiful and should be told and are not traumatizing and not feeding into these stereotypes that just exists to show the absolute joy of these communities and how wonderful they are and the positives you hardly see it, I have to

say because it doesn't sell as well. I was just going to say because at the end of the day, it is about the monetization of pain and trauma, and there is seems to be in an appetite that never ceases and is particularly in America for the trauma and the pain of black and brown people and marginalized communities. And that is what they will pay for, and that

is what they want to see. But when you do something which shouldn't be radical, right, but what you've done, you know is radical because I'm going to show beauty and I'm not going to politicize that beauty. I'm going to show peace. I'm not going to politicize that piece. I'm just going to bring you into this space. How you interpreted and what you how you internalize, that is

going to be left to you. But like, here's what I'm allowing you to pull back this curtain and see for yourself, not it filtered through how other people want you to see it and how they want you to interpret it. And that is that is capital that's capitalistic, right, Like I you know, everybody needs to make money. Artists especially need to you know, need to make money. But

it's the how, um that I think is incredibly important. Um, I should tell people where they can see your film, how they can access you, how they can follow you,

because everyone needs to. Well, thank you very much. So the film Friday is currently a Vimeo staff pick, so it's online available to watch free on your computer, and it's also going to be turned into a multi channel video installation where I'm essentially reconstructing and building like a mobile mosque in a gallery space with prayer mats and with the film on like several screens, so you can walk into the gallery space and you can experience what it's like to be in a real mosque, except you're

in a museum. That museum is called the Shed and it's in Hudson Yards in New York. It's part of the Open Call program and it's starting June third, and it's going to run through the summer, and it is free and available to the public, which is my favorite part about it is that it's super accessible for people to come and see. Yeah, So the film is being turned into an instation and that's where you can experience it in three D or you can experience it digitally

on your computer online. In my half hour conversation with Ishaman, we also got into talking about the role artists and creators play in society, and she even asked me about my own perspective as a creator, a question I can say I have never been asked before on my own podcast. To hear our entire discussion, head over to patreon dot com slash woke f and join woke f Nation, where you'll get hundreds of past shows and five brand new

full length shows every single week. I'm excited to share the rest of my conversations with these incredible up and coming artists, the next of which is already up on Patreon. Jeff Sayan, have an incredible week, and until next time, Power to the people and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.