Often Featured As Perpetrator And Target Of Violence, Riz Ahmed Wants To Change The Way Muslims Are Represented In Film

Riza Ahmed (Instagram @rizahmed)

JAKARTA - British actor Riz Ahmed is launching an effort to improve the image of Muslims in films after a study showed they were barely visible. On the other hand, Muslims are shown in a negative perspective if they are presented.

The Sound of Metal star, who became the first Muslim actor to be nominated for a best actor Oscar, said the Blueprint for Muslim Inclusion would include funding and mentoring Muslim storytellers early in their careers.

"Representatives of Muslims on screen pushing for policies that apply, people killed, countries attacked," he said in a statement.

"These data don't lie. Studies show the scale of the problem in popular films, and the consequences can be measured in terms of potential lost and lives lost."

The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's "Missing and Maligned" study found that less than 10 percent of the highest-grossing films released in 2017-2019 from the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand featured at least one Muslim character who got dialogue.

When Muslim characters are present, they are portrayed as isolated, or threatening or submissive, according to the study. About a third of Muslim characters are described as perpetrators of violence and more than half as targets of violence.

"Muslims live in different parts of the world, but moviegoers only see a narrow portrait of this community, not seeing Muslims as they really are: business owners, friends and neighbors whose existence is part of modern life," said Al-Baab Khan, one of the study's authors. .

Riz Ahmed, 38, who was born in London to a Pakistani family, said the funding offer would help get more Muslim actors, writers and producers into the film and television business.

"If I don't get scholarships and private donations, I won't be able to go to drama school," he said.

The $25,000 scholarship for young Muslim artists will be decided by an advisory committee that includes actors Mahershala Ali and Ramy Youssef as well as comedian Hasan Minhaj.