I co-wrote and edited the synopses and other elements of the grant applications for Among the Believers. I also was Assistant Editor and Associate Producer on the film. The film’s trailer can be seen here.
The film received support from The Sundance Institute, Chicken & Egg Pictures, NYSCA, the Ford Foundation, and many others.
What follows are excerpts from successful grant applications.
SHORT SYNOPSIS
Moderate and fundamentalist forces have been at war in Pakistan since its founding. A watershed moment takes place when Maulana Aziz, cleric of Pakistan’s most radical Islamic seminary, the Red Mosque, declares war on the government. The government retaliates by destroying the mosque, killing his son, brother, mother and 150 students. We follow the dangerous yet charming Aziz on his quest to create an Islamic utopia.
We also follow two students from his madrassa network. Talha, 12, leaves his moderate Muslim family to study to be a jihadi preacher. Zarina, also 12, escapes the madrassa and joins a secular school--but poverty forces her to drop out and get married. We see village chief Tariq, who built the school, reaching out to parents to keep their children out of the madrassa. Through their stories, we see the hard choices between extremism and poverty that many young Pakistanis make today.
Social Change: In 150 words or less, explain how you envision your project being used to affect social change and meeting the goal stated above.
Many Westerners are not aware of the Red Mosque or the importance of the madrassas that radicalize young Muslim students. Fewer have considered that these children might have little alternative other than to join a madrassa. This film goes in detail on both issues, and demonstrates how secular schools provide children an alternative. Our distribution plan, and our outreach and engagement campaign, described below, include showing the film to government leaders and communities of South Asians in the West. We will also utilize social media and an active website to increase viewer discussion, and work closely with NGOs to maximize the film’s impact. We believe that many Western audience members will be compelled to get involved in raising awareness on the issue, and that some viewers will donate privately to NGOs that aid in establishing more secular schools in the Muslim world.
Our film makes it clear that secular schools like the one in the village of Bunni Behk represent a grassroots solution to Cleric Aziz’s rising extremist power. Instead of military might wielded by the West’s coalition against terror, which only serves to mobilize and embolden militants, the Bunni Behk secular school removes fuel from Aziz’s radicalizing machine. The school takes away Aziz’s greatest asset, the children of Pakistan, and redirects them toward an alternative future. It is the use of books, not bombs, that can effectively curtail Cleric Aziz's influence. Communicating the potential impact of “books, not bombs” is the purpose of our film. Upon finishing, we hope that the film inspires wide debate and that there are increased investments in grassroots efforts such as the school of the village chief, across Pakistan.