''Mooz-lum'' is a 2011 American

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

written and directed by Qasim "Q" Basir and stars

Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the '' Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films inclu ...

Nia Long Nia Talita Long (born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in Black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the NBC ...

, and

Evan Ross Evan Olav Ross-Naess (born August 26, 1988), is an American actor and musician. He made his acting debut in the comedy-drama film ''ATL'' (2006), and has since starred in the films ''Pride'' (2007), '' According to Greta'' (2009), ''Mooz-lum'' ( ...

. ''Mooz-lum'' (i.e. "Muslim") tells the story of an African American Muslim family whose lives are changed by the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

and their aftermath. The film was initially promoted primarily through

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

, before opening for its limited theatrical release on February 11, 2011.

Cast

as Tariq Mahdi *

as Safiq *

as Dean Francis *

Roger Guenveur Smith Roger Guenveur Smith (born July 27, 1955) is an American actor, director, and writer best known for his collaborations with Spike Lee. Early life Smith was born on July 27, 1955 in Berkeley, California, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist, and ...

as Hassan Mahdi *

Azhar Usman Azhar Muhammad Usman (born December 23, 1975) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer of Indian descent. He is a former lecturer, community activist and lawyer and has been referred to as the "Ayatollah of Comedy" and "Bin Laug ...

as Brother Hussein

Plot

Amid a strict Muslim rearing and a social life he has never had, Tariq Mahdi (Evan Ross) enters college confused. New peers, family and mentors help him find his place, but the 9/11 attacks force him to face his past and make the biggest decisions of his life.

Filming

The movie was filmed in

Southeastern Michigan Southeast Michigan, also called southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are ...

. Although the college attended by Tariq is never explicitly identified, most of the college scenes were filmed on location on the campuses of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United St ...

. The mosque scene was filmed at the

Islamic Center of America The Islamic Center of America (Arabic: ٱلْمَرْكَز ٱلْإِسْلَامِيّ فِي أَمْرِيكَا‎, ''al-Markaz al-ʾIslāmīy Fī ʾAmrīkā'') is a mosque located in Dearborn, Michigan. The Islamic Center of America, a 12 ...

in Dearborn, Michigan.

Reception

As of January 14, 2015, ''Mooz-lum'' has received an overall rating of 78% from all critics (7 ''fresh'' and 2 ''rotten'') at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

. Film critic Omer Mozaffar calls the film "a long awaited breath of fresh air." at

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

Awards and honors

*14th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival 2010—Best Narrative Feature *

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the compo ...

2010—Official Selection * 34th Cairo International Film Festival—Official Selection

Notes

External links

* * * https://www.facebook.com/Moozlumthemovie {{DEFAULTSORT:Mooz-lum 2010 films Films based on the September 11 attacks Films about Islam 2010s English-language films American independent films African-American films American drama films 2010s American films