American Sharia | |
---|---|
Directed by | Omar Regan |
Produced by | Couni Young Micah Brandt |
Written by | Omar Regan |
Starring | Omar Regan Baba Ali Eric Roberts |
Music by | Jeff Bass |
Cinematography | Keith DeCristo |
Edited by | Brad Geiszler |
Production
company |
Halalywood Entertainment
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
American Sharia is a 2015 American buddy cop comedy-drama action film directed by Omar Regan, written by Omar Regan, and stars Omar Regan, Baba Ali and Eric Roberts. The film is about rogue government officials using Islamophobia to maintain power while two Muslim police officers attempting to solve a case involving the disappearance of several Muslims.
Officer Richardson (Eric Roberts) profiles every Muslim he sees as a terrorist. He goes on an arrest frenzy, which makes the community activists, Jihad (Adam Saleh) and Osama (Sheikh Akbar) take to the streets and rally the people to stand up for their rights.
The Chief of Police (Joshua Salaam) wants to gain the trust of the Muslim community in order to get re-elected, but Attorney Leila Rodriguez (Yasemin Kanar) is standing in the way with a discrimination lawsuit against Officer Richardson and the Motor City Police Department. The Chief calls, Mohammed (Omar Regan) who keeps his faith to himself and his own prejudices against Islam, following constant exposure to Islamophobia, and partners him with a Middle Eastern, Detective Abdul (Baba Ali), who proudly shows his religious values. Together, they have to solve a case involving the disappearance of several Muslims as well as a respectable Muslim leader who is charged with an assault arrest. The Chief wants them to "Speak Muslim To The Muslims" which he thinks will guarantee his re-election and results in ending rising Islamophobic tensions between the police and the community.
Omar Regan is the director, producer and writer of American Sharia, and it is the first production under his company Halalywood Entertainment. In 2012, Regan wrote the story and it then took about two years to get the film project started. Before production for the film even began, Regan created a two-minute trailer in hope of selling the project to investors. In December 2013, the campaign for the film was launched, Regan used Kickstarter to generate funds for the film and the film earned $122,000 in donations in less than 40 days. The film cost £124,000 to make.