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Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam

TAQWACORE: THE BIRTH OF PUNK ISLAM ­(Omar Majeed). 80 minutes. Some subtitles. Opens Friday (October 16). For venues, times and trailers, see Movies. Rating: NNN


Not too many people listen to underground punk, so finding an audience for screaming and slam-dancing Islamists – think from mosque to mosh pit – poses a challenge.[rssbreak]

That struggle piques our interest in Taqwacore, which follows Muslim punk musicians on a tour bus that doesn’t have a whole lot of stops on its schedule.

The slapdash, rabble-rousing movement was inspired by Islamist white dude Michael Muhammad Knight’s novel The Taqwacores, about Muslim misfits, which raises a middle finger to both the Western establishment and organized religion.

Finding musicians across America who want to bring his characters to life, Knight collects them and hits the road to improvised basement parties, cancelled gigs and a stirring, riotous show at a conservative Islamic convention – the film and movement’s high point.

Director Omar Majeed knows how to make images pop but often has difficulty bringing energy to uneventful scenes, especially when his subjects can’t wake out of their cannabis-induced stupor.

Majeed doesn’t try to hide the artists’ laziness and contradictory ideologies. His film embraces the musicians for the confused, irresponsible, sometimes delusional yet often admirable punks that they are.

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