The Taqwacores

Director Eyad Zahra
Country USA

The Taqwacore Muslim punk movement was once the imagining of American writer Michael Muhammed Knight. But young Muslim Americans soon championed Knight’s 2003 fictional account of a bristling Islamic punk rock scene and started to form their own wildly popular bands. And thus Taqwacore was born.

This year director Eyad Zahra bring Knight’s seminal work to the screen in his gritty and energetic debut feature, The Taqwacores.

The story sees shy Pakistani-American engineering student, Yusuf (Bobby Naderi), move off-campus with an unconventional group of Muslims in Buffalo, New York. These include Indonesian stoner Fasiq (Ian Tran), Shi’a skater Amazing Ayyub (Volkan Eryaman), the moralistic Sunni Umar (Nav Mann), mohawked Sufi Jehangir (Dominic Rains) and burqa-clad feminist Rabeya (Noureen DeWulf). This disparate and conflicted bunch introduces Yusuf to the Taqwacore Islamic punk scene. As the housemates veer wildly from drug- and sex-fuelled parties to prayer, Yusuf starts to reexamine his views on faith.

Zahra’ first feature film is choppy and rough around the edges although this anarchic aesthetic is ultimately fitting. And it makes up for a lack of polish with spirited performances and some visually striking scenes. (The climactic scene of a riotous Taqwacore show had the audience talking long after the credits rolled.) Overall, this is an original take on cultural, religious and sexual identity in America – with a kick-ass punk soundtrack.