"A Jihad For Love" at Toronto Film Festival

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As we reported a while back, documentary about Islam and homosexuality is in the lineup at the Toronto International Film Festival. A Jihad For Love, documents the plight of gay and lesbian Muslims battling racial profiling and harassment post 9/11.

[img_assist|nid=8704|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=142|height=149]Openly gay Indian filmmaker Parvez Sharma filmed gay Muslims in 12 countries, always shooting his footage in secret to escape the attention of local authorities.

"We are presenting Islam's most unlikely storytellers," Sharma said of his debut feature, which does not yet have North American distribution.

Sharma told Reuters that his documentary puts a focus on Islam distinct from the dominant perspectives of the Western media and "violent extremists."

"Hollywood and the mainstream film industry are jumping on the Muslim bandwagon and making films around Islam because of the U.S.. involvement in Iraq. But I feel that a lot of films that are made about Muslims are mediated through Western eyes," Sharma said.

Curious to know more about Sharma and his documentary? Check out this audio interview:

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