By: Nabila Ikram - Detroit, MI
This past Sunday Detroiters visited the enchanting world of Islamic art and architecture through Unity Production Foundation (UPF)'s film, Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World. The film is on tour, being premiered at several different locations, including at Michigan State University in East Lansing and at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The East West Link team attended the Detroit premier and had the opportunity to hold an exclusive interview with one of the executive producers of the film, Alexander Kronemer.
Unity Production Foundation was founded by Alexander Kronemer and Michael Wolfe with the motto "promoting peace through the media". The purpose of the organization is to provide its own films, as well as advice to the film and TV industries, including Hollywood and primetime, that consist of research and facts about Muslims and Islam. UPF has produced nine films thus far and two more projects are currently underway in promotion and fundraising phases. Some of their notable projects include Muhammad: Legacy of the Prophet and Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think. The prime sponsor for the Detroit premier of Sunday's film was the Indus Community Action Network (ICAN).
Kronemer explained that the goal of the film was to allow the audience to "appreciate the pluralistic nature of Islam" as currently many people have a narrow view, including Muslims to some extent. Islam has currently been "politicized" and the film attempts to show how Islamcollaborated with other cultures in many of its projects. Therefore the hope is to broaden people's perspective and understand how Islamic art is the representation of the human spirit and experience.
The film has been organized by the important themes of Islamic art: word, space, ornamentation, color, and water. Several locations were featured in the documentary including Mali, Spain, India, Syria, and Turkey.
Kronemer also discussed the challenges of film making such as the biggest challenge of staying within a budget. Another challenge is getting the permissions to film in a particular country or the interior of a mosque. Challenges specific to this documentary included fundraising and competing against feature productions by about 900 other TV channels, giving Discovery Channel's Shark Week series as an example. In relation, the other challenge was how to take a static topic such as art and make it "dynamic" and compelling to a wide audience.
When asked about the hesitance many parents and people in general have about entering careers in the arts, Kromener advised that youth should pursue the field if they want to and realize that it is like any other career. This means that a person should take the plunge into completing the undergraduate degree in the field and then instead of jumping straight into a graduate program, should first get experience through entry level jobs and internships to build his or her way up the ladder, as good positions are most obtained through promotions. UPF itself offers internships in the Washington DC area that mainly focus on fundraising and outreach activities. When discussing EWL's efforts, Kronemer stated that it is important to "nurture the youth particularly in the area of media" and encouraged involvement in such organizations.
Unity Production Foundation was founded by Alexander Kronemer and Michael Wolfe with the motto "promoting peace through the media". The purpose of the organization is to provide its own films, as well as advice to the film and TV industries, including Hollywood and primetime, that consist of research and facts about Muslims and Islam. UPF has produced nine films thus far and two more projects are currently underway in promotion and fundraising phases. Some of their notable projects include Muhammad: Legacy of the Prophet and Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think. The prime sponsor for the Detroit premier of Sunday's film was the Indus Community Action Network (ICAN).
Kronemer explained that the goal of the film was to allow the audience to "appreciate the pluralistic nature of Islam" as currently many people have a narrow view, including Muslims to some extent. Islam has currently been "politicized" and the film attempts to show how Islamcollaborated with other cultures in many of its projects. Therefore the hope is to broaden people's perspective and understand how Islamic art is the representation of the human spirit and experience.
The film has been organized by the important themes of Islamic art: word, space, ornamentation, color, and water. Several locations were featured in the documentary including Mali, Spain, India, Syria, and Turkey.
Kronemer also discussed the challenges of film making such as the biggest challenge of staying within a budget. Another challenge is getting the permissions to film in a particular country or the interior of a mosque. Challenges specific to this documentary included fundraising and competing against feature productions by about 900 other TV channels, giving Discovery Channel's Shark Week series as an example. In relation, the other challenge was how to take a static topic such as art and make it "dynamic" and compelling to a wide audience.
When asked about the hesitance many parents and people in general have about entering careers in the arts, Kromener advised that youth should pursue the field if they want to and realize that it is like any other career. This means that a person should take the plunge into completing the undergraduate degree in the field and then instead of jumping straight into a graduate program, should first get experience through entry level jobs and internships to build his or her way up the ladder, as good positions are most obtained through promotions. UPF itself offers internships in the Washington DC area that mainly focus on fundraising and outreach activities. When discussing EWL's efforts, Kronemer stated that it is important to "nurture the youth particularly in the area of media" and encouraged involvement in such organizations.
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