Film TED Fellows

TED Fellow Negin Farsad opens film “The Muslims Are Coming!”

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Negin Farsad’s new documentary, The Muslims Are Coming!, churns hilarity out of a not-so-funny subject: Islamophobia. The film follows Farsad, a TED Fellow, and a group fellow Muslim-American comedians (Dean Obeidallah, Aron Kader, Preacher Moss, Kareem Omary, Maysoon Zayid and Omar Elba) as they tour the United States and hold comedic interventions to show conservatives, liberals, big city-dwellers and small town stalwarts alike that, well, Muslims are Americans too. As they set up an “Ask a Muslim” booth and hold a game show called “Name That Religion,” they point out the stereotypes and fear that persist throughout the country. On the flipside, the film examines the problem of support from Muslim community for these comedians who curse regularly and play on cultural differences.

Farsad spent two years making the film, which was financed via Kickstarter and contains interviews with Jon Stewart, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo and Rachel Maddow. And this month it’ll open in six theaters: at the Greg Siskel Film Center in Chicago opening yesterday (Sept. 12), at the Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle starting today (Sept. 13), at the Downtown Independent Theatre in Los Angeles starting Sept. 14, the Quad Cinema in New York City starting on Sept. 20, at the Somerville Theater in Boston on Sept. 27, and the Rutgers Cinema in New Brunswick, NJ, starting on Sept. 27. There will also be one-time screenings in Denver and Orange County, California. And at the end of the month, the film will be available on iTunes and assorted on-demand services.