044 - AJ+, Chasing Dreams and the Filmmaking Grind (Ahmad Asaad)

Rami Ismail is a video game developer who is vocal about Muslim representation and misrepresentation in the video game industry. Alongside being the co-founder of game studio Vlambeer, he is also the Executive Director of gamedev.world — a global game developer conference that seeks to showcase developers from all around the world.   I’ll be taking to Rami about how Muslims have been depicted in video games and how they fare behind the scenes, how Muslim representation in video games is changing and what we can look forward to in the future.

Zaki Hasan is a film critic. Hailing from Chicago and spending 10 years of his early life in Saudi Arabia, he currently resides in San Fransisco and is a media scholar and critic with over twenty years of experience. A member of the San Fransisco Film Critics Circle, he has written for The San Francisco Chronica, IGN, Huffington Post and more. He has also contributed to books on Star Wars, Planet of the Apes and Blade Runner.   We’ll be discussing the crazy world of film critics, how Star Wars began Zaki’s lifelong love of film, and how he navigates the film world as a Muslim. -- 786 Boulevard is a podcast by Nouri Sardar & Hasnain Ali dedicated to finding Islam in film, art, fashion and culture. Check us out on Instagram and Twitter: @786Boulevard

Taher Adel is a British poet of Bahraini descent. His phenomenal poetry can be found all over Instagram and in a variety of publications, which tackle life, love, faith and the Arabic language. He published his first poetry collection Lost&Foundin April 2018. The collection is chronicling selections of his work from his first dabblings in poetry to the present day, much of the work in this book focuses on the relationship between the Almighty and his creations. He was also poet in residence for Wells-next-the-sea in 2019 alongside Jennifer Lee Tsai. His poetry has also been published in Ambit, SMOKE Magazine, The New European, Gulf Daily News, Glassworks Magazine, Tedx, Poetry London Magazine and Poetry Salzburg Review. We were lucky enough to have a deep and insightful conversation with Taher, where we discussed relearning poetry, taking on criticism, battling with the ego, separating poetry from the self and trying to answer the biggest question of all: what makes a poet?

Ahmad Asaad is an incredibly talented cinematographer and editor. Hailing from Texas and currently residing in DC, he works behind the scenes at AJ+, currently shooting and editing the ‘Backspace’ series, presented by Sana Saeed and produced by Sana and Nick Garbaty. He also uses his talents to elevate various short films and music videos, both for clients and as passion projects. In this episode, we’ll be discussing some of the grind that goes into AJ+, the balancing act between dream chasing and living in the moment, and the grind of filmmaking.

Young n Muslim is one of America’s favourite Muslim podcasts. Jibraeel and Mohammed endeavour to explore the real issues that young Muslim Americans experience, giving their own takes and personal experiences in a hilarious fashion that is rarely seen on the topic of Islam.   We’ll be speaking to the brothers on their journey, why they got into podcasting, the challenges they faced along the way and advice to those who want to start their own podcast.

Omar Esa is an award-winning and chart topping nasheed artist who uses vocals only in his nasheeds. In his old life, he was a promising RnB/Pop singer who decided to leave music to focus on nasheeds after reconnecting with his faith. Omar has since topped the iTunes world chart multiple times and his nasheeds are watched and heard all across the globe.   We'll be having a conversation with this Nasheed sensation on his unapologetic approach to expressing his Muslimness and his faith, leaving behind a music industry rife with corruption and battling with the absence of instruments in his creative work.

Dune is the 2021 American epic sci-fi film we've all heard of, directed by Denis Villeneuve. Set in the distant future amidst a feudal intersteller society, various noble houses battle over resources on a desert planet.    The basic plot of Dune is perhaps one of orientalist tropes, involving White hero Paul heading to the planet Arrakis to liberate the Arab/Muslim-like Fremen.    We'll be discussing the themes of Dune with our guest Margari Aziza Hill, longtime fan of Dune and Executive Director of the Muslim Anti-Racism Collective. Margari adjunct professor, blogger, editor, and freelance writer with articles published in How We Fight White Supremacy (2019) Time, Huffington Post, Al Jazeera English, Islamic Monthly, and MuslimMatters. She has over 15 years teaching experience at various capacities including substitute teacher, instructor, curriculum design, school policy, teacher training, as well as teaching assistant and teaching fellow. Her research includes colonial perceptions mixed-raced identities in Northern Nigeria, anti-colonial resistance among West Africans in Sudan during the early 20th century, transformations in Islamic learning in Northern Nigeria, and International student programs at Al-Azhar and Cairo University.  We'll be discussing what we thought of Dune, what Frank Herbert's intentions were for the obvious Islamic influences, the debate around the lack of MENA representation in the movie and more.

Huda Fahmy is an author and cartoonist whose webcomics you have certainly seen all over the internet. Her hilarious comics poke fun at the real life situations that Muslims find themselves in every day. She has published numerous best-selling comic books including Yes, I’m Hot in This, That Can Be Arranged and the upcoming Huda F Are You.   We’ll be having an insightful and occasionally emotional conversation with Huda on the story behind her craft, using humour to deal with anxiety, and overcoming painfully outdated Muslim tropes.   Pre-order Huda F Are You? here: https://bit.ly/3jGFip0 --   786 Boulevard is a podcast by Nouri Sardar & Hasnain Ali, who have conversations with Muslim artists and creatives at the intersection of culture, art, spirituality. Follow us on Instagram & Twitter: @786Boulevard

This week's guest are our sponsors - USHUB! USHUB is an exciting new streaming service featuring Muslim made films, shows, documentaries and more. The platform is opening opportunities for Muslims from every corner of the globe; providing them with a home for their work to be seen.    We'll be chatting with co-founders Mir Ali and Sohaib Ali on the platform due to launch this fall, the hard work going into it, and the incredible content they'll be putting forward, as well as why it's time to not just empower Muslim filmmakers but empower balanced, 'halal' narratives that both the practicing and non practicing can enjoy.   USHUB will be available to download on all iOS and android devices including Roku and Amazon Fire TV. USHUB will be launching in Fall 2021. Please check out ushubtv.com for more information.  --   786 Boulevard is a podcast by Nouri Sardar & Hasnain Ali, who have conversations with Muslim artists and creatives at the intersection of culture, art, spirituality.   Check us out on Instagram and Twitter: @786Boulevard

Zuhair Hussaini is a New York City-based architectural designer, who completed his thesis at the New York Institute of Technology, on the rebuilding of the Jannat Al-Baqi cemetery in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Zuhair is an incredible Islamic art designer and Arabic calligraphist, and experiments with contemporary and traditional styles through paintings, digital art and more.   In this episode we’ll be talking about Muharram and artistic expression, how we can use art to connect with the Ahlulbayt, the story of Imam Hussain being specific to the Shia narrative, Zuhair’s challenges in manoeuvring his artistic process and much more.