An energetic crowd of different backgrounds and ages laughed together as comedian Dean Obeidallah joked about Muslim stereotypes and other topics often considered taboo on Friday night in the Tavern.
The D.C. Muslim Film Festival, "Art Under Fire," sponsored by the American Islamic Congress and Project Nur, opened Feb. 13 at AU with a showing of "Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age," and a live performance by one of the comedians featured in the film, Obeidallah.
In its second year, the theme of the festival is the right to free expression and the censorship that moderate Muslims face today, according to Project Nur Executive Director Shabana Stationwala.
The five-week festival runs through March 12 and will screen films at other local universities such as Georgetown University, George Washington University, George Mason University and the University of Maryland, College Park. It will feature topics such as the underground Iranian music scene as well as Egyptian dancers. The screenings are free and open to students as well as the general public, according to Stationwala.
"It provides an opportunity to view films that are not always available to be seen," she said. "The festival uses the arts as a means to address stereotypes."
The film screened one Friday, "Stand Up," profiled the lives of five Muslim comedians and the struggles they face on a day-to-day basis because of their ethnicity.
"I hope that in the future when people think of Muslim Americans they will associate them not with being scary but with being funny," Obeidallah said.
In addition to the films, there will be a live performance connecting to the subject of each film at every screening. For instance, Obeidallah, a member of Comedy Central's "Axis of Evil" tour, performed at AU, and Azar Nafisi, bestselling author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran" will speak at UMD March 4.
Obeidallah has done stand-up comedy for approximately 10 years and most recently toured the Middle East. Comedy is a form of activism, in which people can explain who they are, he said.
"Anytime something is happening with Muslims and the arts I think it is great," he said. "It lets us showcase our talents, a side which many often don't get the chance to see."
The topics the films cover can be sensitive to some and therefore, "We thought humor as an opening [to the festival] would be a great vehicle for building understanding," Stationwala said.
Trish Ward, a freshman in the School of International Service and member of Project Nur, said she thought the night was a success.
"I am very excited this many people came out," she said. "There was such a positive energy in the crowd."
Adam Gallagher, a freshman in SIS, said he liked the show and thought that it was much funnier than he anticipated.
"I think there was a really good showing of people," he said.
Ward said she was pleased with the message of the evening.
"I think the audience really understood the message of Project Nur, and hopefully will get more involved now," she said.
Project Nur is the student-led initiative of the American Islamic Congress and works to share the mission of building understanding and tolerance through civic programs with campuses around the country, according to Stationwala. Project Nur began two years ago at universities in Boston and D.C. - AU, George Washington, George Mason, Boston University and Northeastern. Project Nur has at least 19 new chapters, she said.
Project Nur is inclusive for people of all backgrounds, Stationwala said.
"We want to change the way Muslims are seen, empower the Muslim community and emphasize the civic and cultural identities of the Muslim voice rather than the religious," she said.
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