Mohammad Khalil, associate professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University, has hosted a conference for several years now. They have a new theme every year and always have wonderful folks participating. I am very lucky to be involved this year. The theme for this year’s event is “Locating Muslim Cinema(s): The Politics of Culture and Identity.” You can find out more here or check out the program below.

Thursday, April 12th
10:45-11:45am – Kristian Petersen, “Muslim Movie Stars: The Celebrity Politics of Islam in Public”
12:00-1:00pm – Amir Hussain, “Keeping It Real: Muslims Creating Muslim Cinema and Television”
3:00-4:00pm – Sharofat Arabova, “Poetics of Tajik Cinema”
4:15-5:15pm – Imed Ben Labidi, “Filming Conflicts: Arab/Muslim Films’ Fragmentation and Post-Nationalist Narratives”
7:30-9:30pm – Keynote: Walter Armbrust on the History of Egyptian Cinema

Friday, April 13th
9:30am-10:30am – Sitara Thobani, “Locating the Tawa’if Courtesan-Dancer in South Asian Muslim Cinemas”
10:45-11:45am – Fakhri Haghani, “Defa-e Moghadas (Sacred Defense) and the Making of Cinema in Post-Revolutionary Islamic Iran”
12:00pm-1:00pm – Kaveh Askari, :Dandyism and the Circuits of Cinema in 1950s Tehran”