IN PRODUCTION (Phase 2)

THE BLASTPHEMY

A Feature Documentary


SYNOPSIS


Filmmaker Haris Sheikh takes viewers on an unravelling journey of the Holiness of Muhammad the Prophet over the conflict of, ‘Blasphemous Cartoons’, published in Denmark in 2005.Especially, one with a bomb in, ‘HIS’ turban thus mocking that HE is a terrorist, HE promotes terrorism or ‘HIS’, believers are terrorists.

Muslim World already traumatized by the tragedies of,’ War on Terrorism after 9/11’, took these cartoons as direct insult of their Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

"THE BLASTPHEMY", documentary is also a clash of thoughts among a billion plus Muslims. There are many 'Would be martyrs', ready to go to war against any ‘Blasphemous’,from the tomb of Gazi Ilm Din (Martyr), Lahore, Pakistan. However, there are also moderate voices of Imam Siraj Wahhaj, the prominent African-American Muslim from New York and Syed Suherwardi from Calgary, Canada ; who prefers dialogue to defend against agents of provocation.


Synopsis


Development Plan:

Language(s):English AND later will be released with 'Arabic, Urdu,Persian, Turkish, French, Dutch, German, Hindi, Bengali, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese subtitles'.

Duration: 90 Minutes for Film and 2 Parts TV (45 minutes)release.

Genre:Documentary

Format: HD/Digital

Among hopes and dilemmas

His family is Muslim since generations. He himself believes in Allah and even learned truthfulness from the holy book, Quran.

However, Obama is not Muslim but a Christian!

Barack Hussein Obama, the first Afro American elected president of United States of America was addressing to the Muslims from Cairo on June 5th,2009.

Obama reminds Muslim’s violent extremists from Quran that whoever kills a single person; kills whole humankind; and who saves one’s life; saves whole of humankind.

Applause from the Cairo university strikes to the millennium year’s old crescent of the Muslim world: from Indonesia to Morocco and Diaspora living in the western hemisphere. Obama reaches almost 1.6 billion or one fourth of total humanity.

“Why countless Muslims are still dying in Iraq, Afghanistan and now in Pakistan by American polices and ignorance ”, this is the first response from slums of Gaza, valleys of Indian occupied Muslim Kashmir ,graveyards of Baghdad and the latest victims of war on terrorism : ordinary dying people from Lahore, Pakistan.



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Haris Sheikh's award winning article is published by Mannonite New Life Centre Toronto.














O, Canada! Where are you, my Canada?

Before the first light of day, in the few minutes before the sun rises below the white marble dome of Lahore’s Shahi Mosque, the call of “Allah o Akber” resonates, pouring out from lofty, red stone minarets and flooding streets and alleyways. Mostly old men, but also a few younger ones, rush to answer the call with eternal devotion.

Elsewhere similar calls are being made from countless minarets. Many of the city’s 10 million inhabitants heed the call, but some who are lazy like me, mark time and struggle to cling to their dreams.





































Now, oceans apart, the first rays of sun strike another minaret, the CN Tower, signaling a new day. Breakfast Television goes live and I jump out of bed and rush to the coffee maker.

Immigration. Expatriation. Exile. An immigrant from Peru, an expat from India or an exile from Palestine, they all appear and exist separately here.

Except me, I am all of them. I immigrated to Canada for economic opportunities, but I am also in exile, as I cannot live in my native Pakistan. And yet, I am an emotional expatriate who dreams of going back one day. But with roots growing and spreading here in Canada, my compass is broken.

My thoughts are here and there at the same time. The minarets of Shahi Mosque murmur far away, but in my dream they rub shoulders with the gleaming heights of the CN Tower. There is some comfort knowing that the sky shelters both sides of the ocean.

A flight of fantasy likens my life to the object of affection for Grandmasters Khan, Jahangir and Jansher, tracking its trajectories within four white walls. “Like the poor squash ball, contested by two great masters,” the dream whispers, “you can go your own way, but you will always come back!”

I recall a conversation with a Montreal-born author in his thirties who had settled down with a successful publisher, slightly older than himself, in Paris.

From the back seat of the taxicab, he was explaining: “Toronto lacks essence. Each day, hundreds of hopeful new immigrants arrive at Pearson international airport, each loaded with credentials and dreams, but for the next 10 years they have no identity.

“They become nobody in particular, but from their perspective they are swimming against the current of Niagara Falls! A few may jump out and appear on posters celebrating their diversity, Canada’s multiculturalism, but many will fail."

“Toronto never becomes the melting pot of its diversity, like London or New York,” the man is saying.

“Not even like Paris,” his partner adds. “Toronto is in a continuous cycle of discovery and loss of its identity.”

“True,” I murmur in reply, sinking behind the steering wheel, “I always buy no-name brand groceries. I never dare to walk into costly Loblaws.”

There's a hidden deal for newcomers, unspoken rules. Swap your credentials for minimum wage and work long hours and your kids will get the benefits of a quality education and better job opportunities. Meanwhile, you get a lifetime guarantee on welfare cheques, burritos and halal meat.

Many mistake multiculturalism as a fair deal; Canadians brag about it. But who really understands it?

Sometimes it resembles a colony of bees. The queen bee and her associates rest in the centre of the hive, while worker bees collect sweet nectar to feed them.

For immigrants, a similar cycle is hard to break: improve your language skills, get job training, a mortgage, maybe some credit cards, an RRSP, then get laid off, start your second career training, file for bankruptcy, move into social housing, donate your organs, and, finally, make funeral arrangements.

A few lucky ones manage to break the cycle, while the rest of us become losers for life and end up driving cab and delivering pizzas.

Contrast the American dream. From each new beginning, people arrive there already marginalized. Slowly they try to move to the centre, making or pretending their issues match the mainstream.





















































Newer newcomers take their place at the margins. The process is fusion, a melting pot for a cohesive society. O, Canada! Multiculturalism has become tolerance, but how much?

There are exceptions. I see Brampton, a small city touching Toronto, where new immigrants, especially southern Indians, blacks and eastern Europeans are reinventing themselves, building shopping malls and their own community centres from scratch.

Late at night, I drive by Michael Lee-Chin‘s Crystal, growing out of the Royal Ontario Museum. Lee-Chin is a Chinese-Jamaican immigrant, who began his own billion-dollar odyssey here almost 40 years ago. Rags to riches, his story rises with a donation of $30 million to build the crystal, the price of admission to Toronto society’s royal club!

It is a triumph for immigrants, shared only in the telling. Elsewhere in this multicultural and diverse city are heard the quiet murmurs of an aging security guard, climbing endless stairs behind nearby Yorkville penthouses, and asking, “O Canada! Where are you, my Canada?”

coyright@2009


Multiculturalism and Canada Multiculturalism and Canada

Join Facebook group!

Here is a Facebook group of all concerned Canadians immigrants .Who are dare to talk others outside of their ethnic enclaves!

Special focus is on ‘Multiculturalism, Poverty, Change and Canadian identity'.

‘Multiculturalism’ is the foundation of Canada.

But how many new immigrants make their dreams in Canada? What is the reality behind the slogans of tolerance? Let us talk about invisible glass ceilings and gatekeepers.

Talk louder about injustices and of little nice favours!


You are welcome to join -- 'Multiculturalism and Canada'



Segregation or Integration

A short documentary produced by Haris Sheikh

Synopsis:

Do ethnic and religious schools provide an answer for the multiculturalism in Canada?

Why funding is not available to Jewish, Muslim and Sikh's schools other than Catholics ?

This is a test case for equality and multiculturalism in Canada.





Role of South Asian Print media in Canada

A documentary produced by Haris Sheikh
Part one of three

Synopsis:

This is part one of the documentary about the 'Role of South Asian ethnic print media in Canada'.

What is the contribution of these free 'English, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi language newspapers’?

How they are still publishing ‘free’, when mainstream media, particularly 'newspapers' are dying in North America. Advertising dollars are all time low!

This is a story of passion, community leadership and labour of love.

Many of these media outlets are almost one-man show; publisher/editor/marketer and even the delivery person!

What this ethnic media has achieved and shall they survive?

A special note by Haroon Siddique, a Canadian of India origin , the editor emeritus and columnist of Toronto Star, daily.