

New Muslim Cool
Cert:(adv 12A)
Dir. Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
USA , 76 mins, 2008
Cast: Documentary
UK Premiere
Puerto Rican/American rapper Hamza Pérez pulled himself out of drug dealing and street life 12 years ago and became a Muslim. Now he's moved to Pittsburgh's tough North Side to start a new religious community, rebuild his shattered family and take his message of faith to other young people through hard-hitting hip-hop music. But when the FBI raids his mosque, Hamza must confront the realities of the post-9/11 world, and himself. Acclaimed documentary New Muslim Cool (“spellbinding” - San Francisco Chronicle) takes viewers on Hamza's ride through streets, slums and jail cells, following his spiritual journey to some surprising places in an America that never stops changing. According to Ginia Bellafante of The New York Times, “New Muslim Cool possesses a kind of beauty that sneaks up on you: it is in Hamza's humility, in the dignity with which so much of his misfortune, in his commitment to rehabilitating drug dealers because, in his mind, no one else will.”
Print source: Seventh Art Releasing
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