Trailer: Muslim-Punk Rock Movie ‘The Taqwacores’

It’s not very often that you see the words “Muslim” and “Punk Rock” in the same sentence, but the tagline for the upcoming film The Taqwacores is, “Punk. Muslim. American.”

Directed by Eyad Zahra, The Taqwacores played at South by Southwest and Sundance film festivals.  Now Strand Releasing will be rolling out a slow limited release of the film starting on Friday, October 22 in New York, followed by California on November 12.

Synoposis: Yusef, a first-generation Pakistani engineering student, moves off-campus with a group of Muslim punks in Buffalo, New York.  His new “unorthodox” housemates soon introduce him to Taqwacore – a hardcore, Muslim punk rock scene that only exists on the West Coast.

The film is based on a book by Michael Muhammad Knight, who co-wrote the movie.  Originally the novel was handed out for free in parking lots, but it has since been published in the US, France, England and Italy. The novel is said to have inspired a real life birth of Muslim Punk Rock in the United States.

Want to know what Muslim Punk Rock sounds like?  Check out the album on iTunes.  The film stars Bobby Naderi, Noureen Dewulf, and Dominic Rains.

You can watch the intriguing trailer after the jump.