External Link External Link

An unsettling and eye-opening exploration into the spread of the radical ideology of the Red Mosque Islamic school in Pakistan, which trains children to devote their lives to jihad, or holy war, from a very young age.

Synopsis

An unsettling and eye-opening exploration into the spread of the radical ideology of the Red Mosque Islamic school in Pakistan, which trains children to devote their lives to jihad, or holy war, from a very young age. With incredible access and chilling footage, Among the Believers charts the personal quest of a firebrand Pakistani cleric to impose a strict version of Sharia (Islamic law) throughout the country, as a model for the world. But while the school may offer food and lodging, many people in Pakistan seek to stop the scourge of violence that the Red Mosque encourages.

Credits

Hemal Trivedi

Producer, Director, Editor

Hemal has been a Mumbai and New York City-based documentary film editor/director for over a decade. Her credits include Outlawed in Pakistan (Editor, Emmy 2014, PBS Frontline, Sundance); Saving Face (Editor, Oscar 2012, Two Emmys 2013, HBO/Channel 4); Shabeena’s Quest (Director/Editor, Witness, Al Jazeera); Flying on One Engine (Editor, SXSW, IDFA); Laughter (Editor, BBC); When the Drum is Beating (Editor, ITVS, Tribeca 2011); and Beyond Mumbai (Director, Camera & Editor, OWN, 2011 Webby nomination). She has produced and edited over 50 award-winning shorts for Odyssey Networks.

Mohammed Ali Naqvi

Director

Living between Pakistan and New York, Emmy-winning filmmaker Mohammed is a fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts and American Film Institute's Project 20:20 program. His work has received numerous awards, including the Amnesty Human Rights Award and the United Nations Association Festival Grand Jury Award, and has been showcased at the Museum of Modern Art. His documentary credits include Shame (Showtime-Toronto, IDFA, Tribeca), Pakistan's Hidden Shame (Channel 4, NHK, SVT, Sheffield, UNAFF), Shabeena's Quest (Al Jazeera), andTerror’s Children (Discovery). Mohammed has produced two narrative feature films, Big River and I Will Avenge You Iago, starring Giancarlo Esposito and Larry Pine, and recently directed the narrative short Happy Things in Sorrow Times. Mohammed is also the founder of MuNan Pictures, an independent production house which has developed programing for Showtime, Channel 4, NHK, Al Jazeera, SVT, CNN, MTV, Current TV, New York Times Television, and has recently worked with Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions.

Jonathan Goodman Levitt

Producer, Writer

Jonathan’s films as a director and/or producer have been supported by BBC, PBS, NHK Japan, Ford Foundation, and Sundance Institute. Personally or through his company Changeworx, he has worked on documentary features that follow people from five continents for multiple years. Jonathan's latest directing project, Follow the Leader, was featured on C-Span, CNN and Fox; released by PBS stations and Cinedigm; and was the only documentary to premiere during both the 2012 Republican and Democratic national conventions. His first feature, Sunny Intervals and Showers (Director, Producer, Editor, Camera, 2003), screened at Sheffield Doc/Fest, Chicago and One World; aired as part of the BBC Storyville documentary strand; and was nominated for Grierson (British Documentary) and Mental Health Media Awards. Jonathan was a Fulbright Scholar at the UK’s National Film & TV School (NFTS) in 1999. He has been based in Brooklyn since 2008.