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Ahmed, the "Sound of Metal" star and the first
Muslim to get a best actor Oscar nomination, said the Blueprint
for Muslim Inclusion would include funding and mentoring for
Muslim story tellers in the early stages of their careers.
"The representation of Muslims on screen feeds the policies that
get enacted, the people that get killed, the countries that get
invaded," Ahmed said in a statement.
"The data doesn't lie. This study shows us the scale of the
problem in popular film, and its cost is measured in lost
potential and lost lives," he added.
Titled "Missing and Maligned," the study by the Annenberg
Inclusion Initiative found that less than 10% of top-grossing
films released from 2017-2019 from the U.S., the U.K., Australia
and New Zealand featured at least one speaking Muslim character.
When they did, they were shown as outsiders, or threatening, or
subservient, the study showed. About one-third of Muslim
characters were perpetrators of violence and more than half were
targets of violence.
"Muslims live all over the world, but film audiences only see a
narrow portrait of this community, rather than viewing Muslims
as they are: business owners, friends and neighbors whose
presence is part of modern life," said Al-Baab Khan, one of the
report's authors.
Ahmed, 38, who was born in London to Pakistani parents, said
that offering funding would be game changing in getting more
Muslim actors, writer and producers into the movie and TV
business.
"Had I not received a scholarship and also a private donation, I
wouldn't have been able to attend drama school," he said.
The $25,000 fellowships for young Muslim artists will be decided
by an advisory committee that includes actors Mahershala Ali and
Ramy Youssef and comedian Hasan Minhaj.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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