This documentary by Ahmed EL Maanouni consists of footage of concerts, interviews and the final performances by the music group Nass El Ghiwane, which shot to fame when Scorcese discovered them as “the Rolling Stones of North Africa.” Nass El Ghiwane emerged from the poor outskirts of Casablanca, fusing elements of traditional Moroccan music such as Sufi chants, mystic Berber rhythms and dances of the gnawa, to create their own sound.
UntitledAlter Islam
24 Archival description results for Alter Islam
A quest for Al Khadir الخضر, the inner master. Al Khadir, a character generally unknown in Western culture, occupies a very important place in the popular and mystical knowledge of the countries of the Islamic rhizome, although its origins go back to ancient times. Al Khadir, literally the one who greens, inhabits the in-between world, the no-man's land, the fine interstice between the real and the unreal, life and death, sleep and wakefulness,.... this place is called Al Barzaj, the Isthmus. Where he passes, everything greens up, even the tracks of his footsteps are immediately covered with grass.
Most of the walls of houses in Saint Louis, Senegal, are covered with paintings depicting the master of the Mourid Brotherhood, Amadou Bamba. These frescoes are also to be found on ships' flags, on barouches, and in bedrooms. Most of them bear the signature of Thiam B.B. This film introduces us to Mourid ideas through these paintings and a meeting with Thiam, a mystical, vagabond painter.
UntitledIn 1963, shortly after the independence of Mali, the Tuareg population rose against the new government. Bloodily put down and followed by terrible droughts, this uprising led thousands of Tuareg from Mali and Niger to take refuge in Algeria and Libya. Teshumara, born out of the pain of exile, is a movement affirming Tuareg existence and the need for change. This is when the Tinariwen guitars started to resonate... This film is dedicated to my friend Amadou Aghali.
UntitledTaqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam follows Michael and his kindred spirits as they travel across the U.S. in their green school bus, challenging Muslims and non-Muslims with punchy anthems like “Sharia Law in the U.S.A.” Their spiritual odyssey leads them to Pakistan, where they bring punk to the streets of Lahore and reconnect with Islam in a bold new way.
UntitledThe Islamic Sufism is an ancient religious movement. On some issues it is in opposition to the common or fundamental Islam. Therefore sufism has been suppressed by both the religious and political powers. Through ecstatic dancing by misic and meditation the sufi seeks oneness with God. Most recognised are the whirling dervishes but the påractise of sufism can also take other forms.This video shows sufirituals as performed in Syria which have relationship with the practise of the fakirs. The tradition is passed on from generation to generation.The video shows beautiful but also very profound and violent images.
Sufism is the original Islam, in contrast with the Islam that we see nowadays. Sufism doesn't accept any form of fanatism or violence. In these days, when a war between civizations threatens the world, any serious intend for the understanding between East and West cultures is more than necessary. This documentary leads to the comprehension of the Islam's original philosophy, through the interviews with some sufi masters (Sheikhs) and their followers around the world, and giving special attention to the chapter about the so-called “Islamic Terrorism”.
Untitled"In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors..." [William Blake] An old pilgrim dressed in rags observes a flower in the dark of the night ... The old man is a door between the things that are known and unknown ... symbolizes the decline and the end of what we have taken for real, and now it is perceived as ephemeral and inconsistent, as the poverty of his clothes dragged by time. The proximity of death as an unavoidable truth gives his own vision; a new and deeper insight not limited to visual perception, and beyond logic and laws of the world. Maybe that's why in the dark of night can contemplate the beauty of a flower.
Baye Fall is a Muslim practice derived from mouridism, a Sufi based faith deeply rooted within Senegalese culture. Through the story of one family, the film explores the beliefs and lifestyle of Baye Fall followers.
UntitledPuerto Rican American rapper Hamza Pérez ended his life as a drug dealer 12 years ago, and started down a new path as a young Muslim. Now he's moved to Pittsburgh's tough North Side to start a new religious community, rebuild his shattered family, and take his message of faith to other young people through his uncompromising music as part of the hip-hop duo M-Team. But when the FBI raids his mosque, Hamza must confront the realities of the post-9/11 world, and challenge himself.