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The following article is from JewishJournal.org [2].

In his award-winning documentary, "Trembling Before G-d," Brooklyn-based filmmaker Sandi DuBowski focused on gay Orthodox Jews struggling to reconcile their faith with their sexual orientation. As a follow-up project, DuBowski has partnered with gay Muslim Parvez Sharma to produce "A Jihad for Love."

The controversial documentary, filmed in 12 countries and nine languages, recently screened in Brookline. "A Jihad for Love" contains fascinating interviews with devout gay Muslims persecuted for same-sex crimes in India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa and France.

It is the first full-length film to broach the largely taboo subject of Islam and homosexuality.

DuBowski and Sharma first met at an interfaith event in Washington, D.C. in 2002. When Sharma, who is Indian, asked DuBowski to collaborate on his project, DuBowski readily agreed.

"We're both coming from a deep love of our faiths and traditions, and we're telling the story of believers in Judaism and Islam. I felt strongly about working on this," DuBowski said.

In his role as producer, DuBowski traveled with Sharma to several countries but did no filming. He assisted Sharma in finding characters, cinematographers, editors and sound personnel, helped secure funding, and leveraged his status to get the film screened at festivals around the world.

"This is the first time I produced someone else's directorial vision, and I discovered that I am good at it," DuBowski said.

"Trembling," which premiered in 2001 and is now available on DVD, was unprecedented in opening dialog in the Jewish community. DuBowski believes "Jihad" will do the same for the Muslim community.

Thus far, "Jihad" has screened in 17 countries, often followed by passionate discussions.

"It's important to me to turn movies into movements, and turn cinemas into Town Halls. We are building community around the world with this film," DuBowski said.

While DuBowski is confident that "Jihad" will have a tremendous impact on followers of Islam, the fastest growing religion in the world, Sharma is not so sure.

"I am not optimistic that Islam will come down with a religious opinion that homosexuality is okay, but I don't expect the Vatican to do that, either," Sharma said. He does, however, believe that the film provides small, incremental steps that will have a ripple effect.

Like most Orthodox Jews who maintain that homosexuality is forbidden in the Bible and Talmud, most Muslims believe it is condemned by the Qur'an and Hadith (sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad).

While the films share some similarities, there are also key differences. "Jihad" focuses a lot of attention on the nations that condemn homosexuality, and the issue of refugee status for gay Muslims is central to the film. In contrast, "Trembling" focused more on devout gay Jews gaining acceptance from their families and frum communities.

"The refugee question is not a present-day issue for Jews, yet it is part of our history and part of our responsibility," DuBowski said.

In the West, the word jihad is often associated with holy war. But as Sharma points out, it has a deeper meaning. In Arabic it means, "to struggle or strive in the path of God." The characters in his film are actively engaged in personal jihads for love.

For the Jewish DuBowski, making this film was an eye-opening experience. "We always hear the story of Islam as terrorism and violence. But there is a more faithful story to be heard.

"I attended a gay Muslim retreat in South Africa in 2005 - I was the only Jew there. I was exposed to Islam as a wisdom tradition for the first time. Listening to an iman share insights from the Qur'an was like listening to a rabbi sharing a story from the Talmud.

The learning was very enriching," DuBowski said.

For more information visit ajihadforlove.com.

Source: JewishJournal.org [3]

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