Riz leads bid to change the way Muslims are portrayed on screen
British actor Riz Ahmed has launched an effort to change the way Muslims are depicted in films, after a study claimed they are barely seen, and shown in a negative light when they do appear.
The Sound of Metal (2019) star, who is the first Muslim to get a Best Actor Oscar nomination, said the Blueprint for Muslim Inclusion would include funding, mentoring for Muslim story tellers early on in their careers.
“Representation of Muslims on screen feeds policies that get enacted, the people that get killed, the countries that get invaded,” he said in a statement, adding, “This study shows us the scale of the problem in popular film, and its cost is measured in lost potential and lost lives.”
Titled Missing and Maligned, the study found that less than 10% of topgrossing films released from 2017-2019 from the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand featured at least one speaking Muslim character. Also, about onethird of Muslim characters were perpetrators of violence and more than half targets of violence, the study said.
Ahmed, 38, born in London to Pakistani parents, believes offering funding would be game changing. “Had I not received a scholarship and private donation, I wouldn’t have been able to attend drama school,” he said.
The $25,000 fellowships for young Muslim artistes will be decided by an advisory committee that includes actors Mahershala Ali, Ramy Youssef, and comedian Hasan Minhaj.