LAist Film Calendar: Islamic Punks & Michel Gondry

When you think of Islam, you probably don't picture mohawks and leather jackets. That may change after viewing The Taqwacores, a new film about a motley crew of New Yorkers that bring the music to Muhammad and crank it past 12.

These American-born artists take their faith very seriously (taqwa meaning a conscious obedience to Allah), while embodying the punk ethos of challenging authority and welcoming outsiders. Though The Taqwacores is fiction, its source material (originally distributed as a homemade zine) inspired a movement that threw the finger in the face of homophobic Imams and Western leaders alike. All while rocking a hijab.

The film opens this weekend at the Sunset 5, with triple threat Eyad Zahra and leads Noureen DeWulf & Bobby Naderi at the Friday evening show.