myrmuring

habib umar at ta’leef.

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:26:00 -0700

habib umar at ta’leef.

friday prayer at mcc with habib umar (see screen).

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:22:00 -0700

friday prayer at mcc with habib umar (see screen).

people’s park

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:21:01 -0700

people’s park

in the emergent library

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:20:00 -0700

in the emergent library

My current project is a study of Zaytuna College in Berkeley,...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:46:00 -0700

My current project is a study of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. Zaytuna is the first four-year Muslim liberal arts college in the United States. Established by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir, and Dr. Hatem Bazian, the college aspires to “produce scholars who understand the specific needs of contemporary societies” by integrating a curriculum of Islam’s classical texts with “the intellectual history and culture of the West.”

For more information about Zaytuna College: http://www.zaytunacollege.org/

Best in the West is available for purchase on DVD for personal,...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:33:00 -0700

Best in the West is available for purchase on DVD for personal, community, and academic screenings and collections. Contact the blog or send an email to myrmur@gmail.com for more information.

The film is used in classrooms around the country; it is especially relevant to Asian American and Ethnic Studies courses, American Studies, Iranian Studies, immigration and diaspora, and courses related to California.

Best in the West Best in the West began as an oral history of my...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:23:00 -0700

Best in the West

Best in the West began as an oral history of my family’s emigration to the United States, yet it quickly evolved into a greater examination of a transitional period in history, as well as a portrait of a forty-year friendship of a group of men and the city that they would eventually consider home.

My father, my uncle, and many of their friends left Iran throughout the mid-1960s and the early 1970s to seek education, adventure, and opportunity abroad. Eventually arriving in San Francisco, they engaged the counterculture with curiosity, charm, and charisma. The film locates their experiences, as young men establishing their lives in a new country, within a geographically specific and historical context, which considers the Vietnam War, changes in Iran, and the social, political, and musical atmosphere of the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and 1970s. The parallel history of the Iranian oil industry and its relationship to American oil companies and the growth in American consumption provides a surprising and poignant counterpoint.

Best in the West was originally shot on 16mm film, Super 8, and miniDV. Archival footage, photographs, and a soundtrack of Iranian and American R&B and funk music complete the intricate tapestry that creates the sense of this particular time and place, as well as alludes to the passage of time in these geographic and emotional landscapes. As a portrait of human relationships and a particular historical moment, the film investigates the reasons why people leave their home country, how they choose their point of destination, and how they negotiate cultural differences while trying to establish themselves economically and socially. Most significantly this is the story of a group of male friends, both an examination of their personal choices and achievements and a celebration of their relationships and efforts to maintain a community.

Las Callecitas y la Cañada (en Español) Con cada lluvia la...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:19:00 -0700

Las Callecitas y la Cañada (en Español)

Con cada lluvia la comunidad de Los Platanitos enfrenta inundaciones,
contaminación, enfermedades, pérdidas y trastornos. Este video se
hizo en colaboración con UT Austin, los planificadores de la ciudad,
y los lideres comunitarios del asentamiento informal de Santo Domingo,
Republica Dominicana. Este video examina un enfoque participatorio a
la planificación y el mapeo comunitario como una manera de abordar los
temas de la marginalidad social y riesgo medioambiental. Además,
trata la verticalidad de los cambios sociales, el conocimiento local y
la creación de asociaciones entre lo académico y lo local.

“Las Callecitas y la Cañada” (English version) With...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:01:00 -0700

“Las Callecitas y la Cañada” (English version)

With every rainfall the tight-knit community of Los Platanitos faces flooding, contamination, sickness, loss, and disruption. This video was made in collaboration with UT Austin and community leaders and planners in this informal settlement of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The video examines a participatory approach to community planning and mapping towards addressing issues of social marginality and environmental risk, as well as the verticality of social change, local knowledges, and academic community partnerships.