Little Mosque treats Toronto - Canadian Press

[applegrove]

Little Mosque treats Toronto
The Toronto Star
January 5, 2007


The world media have landed in Toronto to report on a CBC comedy that has yet to air but has a tantalizing title: Little Mosque on the Prairie.

The attention is gratifying yet also a bit puzzling to Zarqa Nawaz, a 39-year-old filmmaker who's the heart and soul of Little Mosque, a comedy about Muslims living in a Canadian prairie town.

After all, the show doesn't premiere until Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.

"A lot of people writing about it haven't even seen it yet," said Nawaz yesterday in Yonge-Dundas Square, where "the world's biggest halal chicken shawarma" was being served to promote the show.

...........SNIP"

http://www.thestar.com/article/168068

[sharp_stick]

1. Ahh Shawarma

I want to go to Toronto for some of that, I haven't had it in years.

[Bruce McAuley]

2. I've seen the previews...

Looks slightly interesting.
Them Canadians have a tough time coming up with new programs that aren't a take off of American stuff, even though I love the CBC dearly.

Bruce

[applegrove]

3. Let's hope they do a great show. There is so much to be said about

the whole immigrant experience. Lot's of room for originality in their humour. I hope it does great.

[Lisa]

4. I've seen some of her stuff! Good luck to her with the new show ...

She sounds pretty cool!

"This 34-year-old filmmaker and journalist who describes herself as a Canadian Muslim has acquired a cult status with her films, which examine and demolish stereotypes associated with Muslims as terrorists, wife abusers and religious extremists. And that too with loads of wit. The name of her production company "FUNdamentalist Films" reflects her satirical bent of mind, and this streak is evident in her film trilogy - 'BBQ Muslims', 'Death Threat' and her first feature 'Real Terrorists Don't Belly Dance'.

While the motto of FUNdamentalist Films is to put "fun back into fundamentalism" the trilogy is what she calls "terrordies", or comedies about terrorism. The films have been widely acclaimed, and requests have been pouring in for copies. So much so that Nawaz quips, "I could spend my lifetime at the post office, mailing them (the cassettes) out."

'BBQ Muslims' is about two hapless Muslim brothers who are suspected of being terrorists after their gas barbecue explodes, and 'Death Threat' was a take off on the fatwa (decree) issued by religious clerics against Salman Rushdie and Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen for their writings."

http://www.boloji.com/wfs/wfs210.htm