Cold outside? Check out free POV screenings happening this weekend!

Kauthar Umar (New Muslim Cool) tells POV about her Washington, D.C., experience and reaction to a screening of Fordson, another documentary that breaks down stereotypes about being Muslim in America.

Three young documentarians from Oakland, California, investigated sex trafficking on notorious strip of International Boulevard in a Project VoiceScape grant-winning film, The Track. The filmmakers are now completing production with the guidance of media professionals including Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, director of the award-winning New Muslim Cool.

New Muslim Cool co-producers Kauthar Umar and Hana Siddiqi wrote in to tell us about “Generation Change,” a U.S. State Department event held last week in Washington, D.C. toasting some of the best and most innovative American Muslim leaders under the age of 30. With much excitement and anticipation we arrived in Washington, D.C. last […]

This week, we focus on the Sundance Film Festival, mourned Howard Zinn and get an update from New Muslim Cool. Much of the doc world was in Utah this week for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. POV’s own Yance Ford blogged up a storm, bringing us video of a Q&A after a screening of My […]

M-Team, the rap group consisting of Hamza Perez and his brother Suliman seen in New Muslim Cool, are performing on NBC’s Today Show on Sunday morning at 8 AM. Don’t forget to set your DVRs! You can listen to 2 tracks from M-Team, as well as other music from and inspired by New Muslim Cool, […]

Just a heads up that POV director Jennifer Maytorena Taylor will be joined by New Muslim Cool star, Hamza Pérez, on Monday, June 29, for a live chat at the fabulous Firedog Lake Book Salon with La Figa. They’ll be online for 90 minutes of question and answer time, starting at 8pm East Coast, 5pm […]

What’s in a name? I find myself approaching the new POV season the same way I used to love cracking the college course catalog, eating up the clever names teachers would give their courses, such as my comp-lit favorite, “Uncanny Tales.” What sounds good? Life. Support. Music., Hold me Tight, Let Me Go and Bronx […]

Clear your calendars! Set your DVRs! POV’s 2009 season kicks off on Tuesday, June 23rd with the premiere of Jennifer Maytorena Taylor‘s New Muslim Cool. The film, which follows the spiritual journey of Puerto Rican-American rapper Hamza Pérez, has received glowing reviews and is sure to start many fascinating conversations. Hamza pulled himself out of […]

The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival returns to The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater starting June 11. The festival opens with a special presentation of The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court by Paco de Onís, Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates (POV 2009) on June 12 which will be […]

POV production assistant Andrew Catauro reports back from the 2009 Rooftop Films premiere in New York City. I know it’s a few days after the fact (I definitely can’t keep up with blogger Brooklyn Vegan, who blogged about the event later that night) — but I want to write about what a great time I […]

POV’s premiere film of our 2009 season is New Muslim Cool, the story of a young Muslim hip-hop artist confronting the realities of the post-9/11 world — and himself. New Muslim Cool had its world-premiere screening last month at the San Francisco Film Festival. Director Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, Hamza Pérez and others associated with the […]

MoMA’s retrospective of Kim Longinotto‘s work starts this week. This is a rare chance to see all of Kim’s masterful films in America, and to hear from Kim herself — she is considered one of the foremost vérité filmmakers in the documentary world. Kim’s film Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go will air on POV […]

Filmmaker Jennifer Maytorena Taylor just emailed us from Qatar to let us know that her 2009 POV film New Muslim Cool won the Freedom Prize at the Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival. The Freedom Award is sponsored by the Doha Centre for Media Freedom. Filmmaker Jennifer Taylor (center) and Senior Project Advisor Suad Abdul […]