Salaam Hollywood: United Productions Foundation Introduces their Work to BIS by Farooq Chandiwala

On Friday, August, 18, Unity Productions Foundation introduced their work to the BIS community through an event called Salaam Hollywood at HCIC.  UPF’s work focuses on telling inspiring stories of Muslim contribution through film and television to counter Islamophobia and promote peace.  

They have produced over a dozen award-winning films including American Muslims Fact v. Fiction, Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story, Allah Made Me Funny: The Official Muslim Comedy Tour and many others.  UPF films have been seen by tens of millions of viewers in the United States and around the world.  Evaluations from screenings show a positive response of over 80% and they have also been seen by thousands of government officials.  They have also worked with dozens of popular TV shows in Hollywood, providing research to help shows develop Muslim characters that go beyond stereotypes.

UPF’s latest film is called The Sultan and the Saint, and it tells the amazing true story of Muslim-Christian Peacemaking in the middle of the terrible Crusades.  In the year 1219, St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan Al-Malik al-Kamil bucked a century of war, distrust and negative propaganda and they used their faiths to heal instead of fracture.  Francis took a huge risk by walking across enemy lines in the name of peace.  In the court of the Sultan, he was amazed to learn about salat and the 99 names of God from the Muslims.  The Sultan engaged in a great act of compassion, which is presented in the film. Their actions lead to the beginning of the end of the Crusades.  The film is made docudrama style, with reenactments as well as interviews with scholars.

Over 60 premiere screenings of the film have taken place around the country and it is coming to Birmingham as part of a UPF fundraising dinner called Countering Islamophobia and Promoting Peace, on Saturday, September 16th, 7pm, at the Embassy Suites in Hoover.   

At this event, UPF will be presenting clips from its projects in Hollywood and other films.  Former ISNA President and scholar Imam Mohamed Magid will be speaking as well, and UPF will be raising funds for its new projects, which will be presented there.  The entire Sultan and the Saint film will be shown.

Please support this critical work at this critical time to counter Islamophobia and promote peace.