Feature Films
Iranian Films in Farsi:
Baran	[DVD] 791.43 B2251
The film chronicles the story of illegal Afghan immigrants living and working at a construction site in Tehran, Iran. When one of the workers is injured, his daughter, posing as a man, becomes the breadwinner. But a hot-headed 17 year-old local youth also working at the site discovers the secret.
Café Setareh	[DVD] 791.43 C1297
Three women who live in a poor neighborhood in Tehran actively seek a better life in this contemporary slice of Iranian life.
Children of Heaven (Iran)	[DVD] 791.43 C53675
A young boy, Ali, loses his sister Zahra's school shoes. In order to stay out of trouble, the two come up with a plan to share Ali's shoes, but they must keep it a secret from their parents.
The Circle	[DVD] 791.43 C5782
This film offers insights into the lives of women in Iran. As the narrative dynamically shifts from woman to woman, their stories culminate with tremendous potency, transforming a shared sense of despair and injustice into one of kinship and even hope.
The Color of Paradise	[DVD] 791.43 C7192 [VHS] 791.43 C7192
Mohammad joyfully returns to his tiny village on summer vacation from the Institute for the Blind, unaware of his father's intentions to disown him. Engaged to be married, the widowed man has kept Mohammad a secret from his fiancee, certain the boy's disability will destroy his only chance for happiness. With the wedding swiftly approaching Mohammad's future hangs precariously in the balance as his father struggles against his destiny, unable to see the wonder of life and love that's so clear to his son.
Daughters of the Sun	[DVD] 791.43 D2384
Amanagol, the daughter of a poor rural family in Iran, becomes Aman when her father shaves her head, disguises her as a boy, and dispatches her to another village to work weaving carpets. Her secret is jeopardized when a co-worker falls in love with her.
Deserted Station	[DVD] 791.43 D4516
A photographer and his young wife are stranded in a remote village after their car breaks down. The only adult inhabitant leaves with the photographer to find help, leaving the woman to teach the village children, whose parents are nowhere to be found.
Hamoun	[DVD] 791.43 H2286
This is the story of Hamid Hamoun, an executive in a large import-export business, who also works as a part-time English instructor. He feels alienated from Iranian society, bound by its conventions yet unwilling to abide by its rigid laws. His wife wants to divorce him but is unable to do so under Islamic law. In this film, husband and wife struggle to find their own solid ground.
Hidden Half	[DVD] 791.43 H6323
Khosro is sent from the president's office on a fact-finding mission to Shiraz, to investigate the complaints of a female political prisoner awaiting execution. Khosro's wife, Fereshteh, being of the same generation as the prisoner, decides to do something about her situation. Fereshteh writes of her own participation in the revolution, of which her husband is unaware. In his hotel room in Shiraz, Khosro begins to read his wife’s memoirs the night before he is to visit the prisoner.
Iron Island	[DVD] 791.43 I713
A derelict oil tanker is home to cast-off members of the Sunni-Arab minority of Iran. When the owner decides to sell it, it is up to the self-proclaimed patriarch of the ship to provide a future for the people of his floating city, no matter the cost.
Leila	[DVD] 791.43 L5295
Reza and Leila, an attractive and affluent young couple deeply in love and recently married, discover that Leila is unable to conceive. Although Reza steadfastly insists that it matters not in the least, his mother feels otherwise: she is determined that her son have children and continue the family line. Invoking traditions, she convinces her daughter-in-law that Reza must, out of necessity, take a second wife to produce an heir.
Persepolis (French)	[DVD] 791.433 P4663
In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family. Their long dreams is realized when the hated Shah is defeated in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, Marji grows up to witness firsthand how the new Iran has become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study. This change proves an equally difficult trial for Marji and finds herself in a different culture loaded with abrasive characters and profound disappointments that deeply trouble her. Even when she returns home, Marji finds that both she and her homeland have changed too much and the young woman and her loving family must decide where she truly belongs.
Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine	[DVD] 791.43 S6384
Baham Farjami, a filmmaker who has not directed for 20 years due to censorship, experiences a strange set of coincidences that convince him that the Angel of Death is near.
Taste of Cherry	[DVD] 791.43 T2155
Mr. Badii, ceaselessly driving through the red-brown hills around Tehran in search of assistance in his suicide, receives from each of the men he asks for help a viewpoint on life.
Turtles Can Fly	[DVD] 791.43 T9625
Soran is a 13-year-old boy who orders other children around as he installs an antennae for villagers keen to hear of Saddam's fall. Eventually, he falls for Agrin but is disturbed by her brother, Henkov, who can seemingly predict the future.
Two Women	[DVD] 791.43 T9746
The film chronicles the lives of two women attending architectural school at Tehran University during the first years of the Islamic Republic.
Women's Prison	[DVD] 749.43 W8728
Mitra, in prison for killing her violent stepfather, confronts new warden Tahereh on the eve of a riot, fearlessly challenging her dogmatic views - which, over time, begin to change. This movie has been banned in Iran.
Kurdish Films:
Blackboards	[DVD] 791.43 B6283
A group of male teachers crosses the mountainous paths of the remote Iranian Kurdish region. The men wander from village to village in search of students, carrying large blackboards on their backs. The boards are sometime used as shelter, camouflage, and shields instead of for teaching purposes. One by one the men venture away from the group in search of students to teach. Along their way they must face other hardships and obstacles, including unseen enemy helicopters and gunfire. This film is in Kurdish.
Marooned in Iraq	[DVD] 791.43 M3545
During the Iran-Iraq war, an aging Iranian-Kurd musician hears that his wife, a singer with a magical voice, who deserted him for his best friend and fled to Iraq, is in trouble. He cons his two sons into accompanying him on the search and they embark on an adventure filled with music, romance and danger.
Films in Arabic:
Daughter of Keltoum	[DVD] 749.43 D2382
A young Swiss woman travels to her birthplace - an isolated settlement in the mountainous desert of Algeria - to find her biological mother. The perilous journey immerses her in a world virtually untouched by contemporary society.
The Kite	[DVD] 791.43 K622
Set in the Druze area of the Golan Heights known as the Valley of Laments and Tears, the story is a combination coming of age struggle for freedom and amplified "Romeo and Juliet." The scenario matching 15-year-old Lamia with 17-year-old Israeli soldier Youssef fits well with Sabbag's tale of lovers living in limbo on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Both are Druze, separated by arbitrary physical boundaries and long-standing religious and cultural traditions.
Paradise Now	[DVD] 791.43 P2224
This is the story of what may be the last 48 hours in the lives of two Palestinian men who have been recruited as suicide bombers. When they are intercepted at the Israeli border, a young woman who discovers their plan causes them to reconsider their actions.
Rachida	[DVD] 791.43 R1192
Rachida lives and teaches in an old neighborhood in Algeria. Like most Algerians, she thinks she is far removed from the bloody conflict the country is in, until one day she is attacked by a terrorist group. The terrorists ask her to plant a bomb in her school. After refusing, they shoot her in cold blood. Miraculously, she lives and seeks refuge in a neighboring village.
The Syrian Bride	[DVD] 791.43 S9953
Mona's wedding day is the saddest day of her life. Once she crosses the border between Israel and Syria to get married, she will never be allowed back to her family in the Golan Heights.
Wedding in Galilee	[DVD] 791.43 W3885
The elder of a Palestinian village under Israeli military rule, wants permission to hold a traditional wedding for his son that will go past the imposed curfew. The Army commander agrees on the condition that he and his officers be invited as guests of honor at the ceremony.
Yacoubian Building	[DVD] 791.43 Y125
We meet the residents of the Yacoubian building and through them learn something about the city of Cairo, albeit the more disturbing side of corruption, fundamentalism, prostitution, sexuality, and drugs.
Zaman: the Man from the Reeds	[DVD]791.43 Z235
Zaman and his wife Najma have built their happy life together in a house of reeds. When Najma falls ill, the doctor tells them she needs surgery or some medicine he does not have. Zaman sets off in his boat and journeys to Baghdad for the cure.
Films from Afghanistan:
Kandahar Journey into the Heart of Afghanistan	[DVD] 791.43 K163
Nafas, an Afghan-born Canadian journalist, returns to her homeland in a desperate attempt to reach her sister, who, overcome with grief after being injured by a landmine and her despair over the Taliban's oppression of women, has vowed that she will commit suicide at the time of the next solar eclipse, only three days away.
Osama	[DVD] 791.43 O812
This is the first feature film made in Afghanistan in the post-Taliban era. It chronicles the true story of a young girl in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan who must disguise herself as a boy to save her family from starvation.
Films in Bengali and Urdu from Bangladesh and Pakistan
The Clay Bird	[DVD] 791.43 C6192
Set against the backdrop of Pakistan during the turbulent 1960's, a family is ripped apart by religious beliefs and civil war. A young boy from Bangladesh is sent away by his Muslim father to a Madrassah. He struggles to adapt to a harsh monastic life.
Films about Muslims in the West
Malcolm X	[DVD] 791.43 M2435
This is the screen version of the life of Malcolm X, who through his religious conversion to Islam, found the strength to rise up from a criminal past to become an influential civil rights leader.
My Son the Fanatic	[DVD] 791.43 M9958
Parvez, a cab driver who left Pakistan in search of a better life, must choose between his friendship with a woman not his wife, and his son, who has adopted increasingly traditional beliefs.
Monsieur Ibrahim	[DVD] 791.43 M7544
An elderly Turkish Muslim grocer befriends a lonely teenage Jewish boy in a working class section of Paris.
Prisoner of the Mountains (Sergei Bodrov)	[DVD] 791.43 P9595
A Russian army patrol is ambushed by Caucasian rebels and two survivors are taken prisoner, by a local patriarch who is hoping to barter them for the release of his captured son. A bond of understanding develops between the soldiers and their captors, but it is broken when plans for their release go awry and a chain of violence and retaliation is precipitated.
Documentaries with Islamic Themes
Because We are Beautiful: Muslim Women at a Midwestern University	[DVD] 297.09 B3883
The film profiles a handful of young women as they attempt to define for themselves what it means to be Muslim in modern American society. Away at university and out of their parents' homes for the first time, many of these women are torn between the often divergent expectations of their parents and peers-and each woman draws her own distinct conclusions about what Islam requires.
Daughters of Afghanistan	[DVD] 305.4 D2383
This is a documentary chronicling the struggle for women's rights in Post-Taliban Afghanistan. Award-winning journalist and UNICEF representative Sally Armstrong witnesses heroic women fighting for the cause, and the powerful forces that threaten their freedom.
Decoding the Past: Secrets of the Koran	[DVD] 297.07 D2963
The Koran is an ancient tome that has been followed by Muslims for thousands of years. This History Channel presentation casts some Western eyes over the book and helps viewers to decipher some of the important passages of the text contained within. The program draws on the wise words of a number of people well versed in the ways of Islam, leading to some fascinating insights on what the Koran means and why it has proved to be so influential.
Dress Rehearsal: The Brave Hurr's Ta'zieh	DVD 791.43 D7735
The film chronicles the performance of a ta'zieh, an ancient and uniquely Iranian passion play that celebrates the glory of martyrdom.
The Hajj: One American’s Pilgrimage to Mecca	[DVD] 297.09 H1545
This Nightline program from April 8, 1997 features Michael Wolfe, an American Muslim, as he describes the experience of his hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca.
Inside Islam	[DVD] 297.09 I594
It is the second largest religion in the world. Its name is derived from the word for peace, yet to many Westerners, it is synonymous with violence and terror. Widely practiced and equally widely misunderstood, Islam is a religion that has been at the heart of human experience for well over a thousand years. In the world after September 11th, it is especially critical to understand the origins and practice of Islam, and its role in the world today. This balanced, objective introduction to the great faith traces its roots back to the Hebrew Bible and explains the main tenets of Islam, the Five Pillars that all Muslims must adhere to. Discover what the Qur'an has to say about war, violence and suicide, and see how these words have been co-opted by extremists. This is an A&E production.
Inside Mecca	[DVD] 297.09 I595
In this National Geographic documentary the camera follows three Muslims from very different backgrounds as they embark on an epic five-day reaffirmation of faith and quest for salvation. We are able to witness the personal stories of the pilgrims and the mental preparation, physical strain and spiritual ecstasy they encounter on their pilgrimage of faith.
Islam, Empire of Faith	[DVD] 297.09 I823
This PBS program documents the rise and growth of Islam throughout the world, from the birth of Prophet Muhammad in the 6th century through the peak of the Ottoman Empire 1000 years later. There is discussion concerning the impact of Islamic civilization on world history and culture.
Jihad al-Asghar: the Lesser Jihad	[DVD] 297.7 J615
This documentary traces the history of Islam and explores the geographic spread of Islam. Also the video examines the ways Islamic rhetoric is used by radicals to wage holy war against what they perceive as Christian America.
The Journalist and the Jihadi: The Murder of Daniel Pearl	[DVD] 303.6 J86
The film tracks the tragically parallel lives of the British-born jihadi, Omar Sheikh, whose cunning con-game was the cause of the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.
The Long Search	[DVD] 200.1 L849 [VHS] 200.1 L849
This thirteen part BBC series on the world's religions is used in the Humanities and Religion Classes. One of the programs is entitled Islam: there is no God but God.
Mahomet (Alternate title: Mohammed the Prophet)	[DVD] 297.63 M2165
This French film chronicles the life of Mohammed and his legacy. It is comprised primarily of interviews with Imams, scholars, and individual believers, as well as footage of some of Islam's most significant historic places.
The Message: the Story of Islam	[DVD] 791.43 M5832
The dramatic story of Mohammed, the prophet who founded Islam is explored in this international film.
Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet	[DVD] 297.63 M9522
Tells the story of the seventh century prophet who changed world history in 23 years, and continues to shape the lives of more than 1.2 billion people. Three years in the making, the film takes viewers not only to ancient Middle Eastern sites where Muhammad's story unfolds, but into the homes, mosques and workplaces of some of America's estimated seven million Muslims to discover the many ways in which they follow Muhammad's example.
Muslims	[DVD] 297.09 M9877
The segment of Nightline looks at what it means to be a Muslim in the 21st century. Filmed in Egypt, Malaysia, Iran, Turkey, Nigeria and the United States, this program explores the influence of culture and politics on religion, looks at the political forces at work among Muslims around the world, emphasizes Islam's kinship with Christianity and Judaism, and examines the diverse interpretations of Islam among the Muslim people.
Osama Bin Laden: In the Name of Allah	[DVD] 920.02 0813
This is an A&E biography of Osama bin Laden.
The Story of Islam	[DVD] 297.09 S8874
This Nightline production presents a journey through Islam from its beginnings 1300 years ago to its place in the world today. It introduces the culture, philosophy, and staples of the Islamic life-style. As a bonus, it includes the Michael Wolfe program on the Hajj.
Recordings of Music
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak (Sudan)	[CD] 780.89 M941ab
Afghanistan: Musique Instrumentale & Chant	[CD] 780.89 A257
Al-Muallim Sami Yusuf (British Azeri)	[CD] 780.89 Y955al
Apocalypse across the Sky (Morocco)	[CD] 780.89 M423ap
Art of the Alghoza from Sind (Pakistan)	[CD] 780.89.K454ar
Chansons a l'Ecran: Umm Kulthum (Egypt)	[CD] 780.89 O935ch
Classical Music of Iran Dastgah Systems	[CD] 780.89 C6143
From Nubia to Cairo: Ali Hassan Kuban	[CD] 780.89 K95fr
Hommage a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan	[CD] 780.89.H768
Jerusalem in my heart: Fayruz	[CD] 780.89 F172je
Kenza: Khaled (Algeria)	[CD] 780.89 K452 ke
Khaled (Algeria)	[CD] 780.89 K452kh
Masters of Turkish Music	[CD] 780.89 M4235
My ummah Sami Yusuf (British Azeri)	[CD] 780.89 Y955my
Turkish Sufi Music Folk Lute of Anatolia	[CD] 780.89 C568tu
The Voice of the Atlas: Najat Aatabou	[CD] 780.89 A114vo
Whirling Dervishes from Turkey: Mevlevi Ceremony	[CD] 780.89 D492

Andrea Kempf, updated July 20, 2009

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