- Omar Majeed
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Omar Majeed is a Pakistani Canadian film director and producer who studied cinema at York University Film School and later on studied editing at the International Academy of Design in Toronto. He is the son of Musarrat Nazir. He went on to work as producer Toronto's CityTV and won a Gemini Award for his television work. He also worked with Canada's National Film Board through the Reel Diversity program in Montreal and with EyeSteelFilm.[1]
He is best known for his 2009 documentary film Taqwacore (full title Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam) produced by EyeSteelFilm about a number of Taqwacore bands and performers touring the United States and Pakistan. Majeed filmed the documentary during the three years 2007 to 2009 and released it on 16 October 2009.
Before Taqwacore, he worked at CityTV as an editor on the shows QT: QueerTelevision and SexTV and as a producer at Book Television.
Omar Majeed's 2009 documentary Taqwacore is a look at the Muslim punk movement that sprung Michael Muhammad Knight's book The Taqwacores and features members of The Kominas, Diacritical, Secret Trial Five, and Al-Thawra. It has been shown at several international festivals, including the Vancouver International Film Festival, Montreal's Féstival du nouveau cinéma, the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA), the Gothenburg Film Festival and the Available Light Film Festival in Whitehorse. It has played theatrically in Canada and will open across the United States in 2010. The film will have its U.S. premiere at Austin's South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2010.
Contents
Filmography
Director
- 2009: Taqwacore
- 2005: Stare with Your Ears: Ken Nordine (for BookTelevision)
Editor
- 2008: P.O.V." (1 episode) entitled Up the Yangtze (as post-production coordinator)
- 2001-2003: SexTV
- 2000-2001: QT: QueerTelevision
Producer
- 2003-2005: BookTelevision
- 2004: SexTV
- Heera Mandi/Sex Advice to All Creation/A Moment with... Al Link and Pala Copeland (Editor)
Festivals
Omar Majeed's Taqwacore has been shown in many festivals including:
- Vancouver International Film Festival (world premiere)
- Montreal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma -- Temps Zero stream
- Sheffield Doc/Fest
Awards
- Gemini Award for television work
References
External links
- Omar Majeed at the Internet Movie Database
- Omar Majeed at the Internet Movie Database
EyeSteelFilm Founders Directors Mila Aung-Thwin • Laura Bari • Richard Boyce • Yung Chang • Daniel Cross • Eric "Roach" Denis • Lixin Fan • Brett Gaylor • Mitchell Kezin • Omar Majeed • Halima OuardiriDocumentaries The Street: A Film with the Homeless (1997) • Too Colourful for the League (2001) • S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic (2001) • Music for a Blue Train (2002) • Bone (2002) • RoachTrip (2003) • Inuuvunga: I Am Inuk, I Am Alive (2004) • Chairman George (2005) • Punk the Vote! (2006) • Up the Yangtze (2007) • RiP!: A Remix Manifesto (2008) • Antoine (2008) • Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam (2009) • Last Train Home (2009)Categories:- Living people
- Canadian film directors
- Canadian television directors
- People from Toronto
- Canadian people of Pakistani descent
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