By Brittany Huckabee
THE MOSQUE IN MORGANTOWN follows one woman's crusade against extremism in her West Virginia mosque, throwing the community into turmoil and raising questions that cut to the heart of American Islam. When former Wall Street Journal journalist and single mother Asra Q. Nomani returns from working in Pakistan to her hometown mosque in Morgantown, West Virginia, she believes she sees signs of trouble: exclusion of women, intolerance toward non-believers, and suspicion of the West. She finds such signs particularly alarming and determined to halt the 'slippery slope' that she maintains leads from Islamic intolerance to violence, she begins a campaign to drag the mosque's practices into the 21st century, triggering a heated battle between tradition and modernity. Nomani's activist tactics alienate would-be allies in the mosque, leading many to wonder who most deserves the label of "extremist." Director Brittany Huckabee takes a balanced view of the tensions dividing this community, exploring both sides from a neutral standpoint. This riveting Emmy Award nominated film is not only about women's rights in the mosque but about the struggles of a Muslim community faces as it strives to be a part of American life.
Reviews
~ "The Mosque in Morgantown is an important film for our troubled times. Its narrative has a place in America's message of change and in the feminist movement that is gaining momentum in many predominantly Muslim countries." - Alicia Izharuddin, The Feminist Review
~ "A very smart documentary, expertly dissecting a complicated subject matter ¡ª gender and Islam ¡ª while not taking sides." - San Francisco Examiner
Reviews
~ San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature
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