{"id":23227,"date":"2026-07-03T12:59:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T12:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/riz-ahmed-launches-initiative-to-change-muslim-representation-in-world-cinema\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T07:55:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T07:55:31","slug":"riz-ahmed-launches-initiative-to-change-muslim-representation-in-world-cinema","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/?p=23227","title":{"rendered":"Riz Ahmed launches initiative to change Muslim representation in world cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Oscar-nominee and Emmy Award winner, Riz Ahmed, is well-known for his activism as much as his projects like <em>Sound of Metal<\/em> and <em>The Night Of<\/em>. However, the actor and rapper has taken the fight against discrimination one step ahead, by launching an initiative for Muslim representation in films.<\/p>\n<p>The actor took to Twitter on 10<sup>th<\/sup> June and made an announcement that he will be launching something big in partnership with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the Ford Foundation and Pillars Fund.<\/p>\n<p>Later, he announced that in light of USC Annenberg\u2019s new study on Muslim representation in media \u2014 which <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2021\/film\/news\/riz-ahmed-muslim-study-usc-annenberg-inclusion-initiative-pillars-fund-1234993247\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> that less than 10% of top grossing films from 2017-2019 had a Muslim character on screen, with less than 2% of those characters having speaking roles \u2014 the coalition has created the Blueprint for Muslim Inclusion, as well as the Pillars Artist Fellowship, offering selected grantees an unrestricted award of $25,000.<\/p>\n<p>The fellowship\u2019s advisory board includes Muslim artists, namely Riz Ahmed, Mahershala Ali, Ramy Youssef, Lena Khan, Sana Amanat, Karim Amer, Rosa Attab, Nida Manzoor, Jehane Noujaim and Hasan Minhaj.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">These stats are crazy. When it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MuslimsInFilm?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#MuslimsInFilm<\/a> we are either invisible or villains. So we assembled the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MuslimAvengers?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#MuslimAvengers<\/a> to try fix this. Will the industry now step up? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/94ZotOHk0S\">https:\/\/t.co\/94ZotOHk0S<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Riz Ahmed (@rizwanahmed) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rizwanahmed\/status\/1403121516150022147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">June 10, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese stats are crazy. When it comes to #MuslimsInFilm we are either invisible or villains. So we assembled the #MuslimAvengers to try fix this. Will the industry now step up?\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CP9H9yglNWe\/?utm_source=ig_embed&#038;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"13\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CP9H9yglNWe\/?utm_source=ig_embed&#038;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A post shared by Riz Ahmed (@rizahmed)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m fed up of seeing Muslim characters on screen either negative or non existent. The industry must change. Our new study proves what many of us always felt about #MuslimsInFilm. The cost is measured in hate &#038; lost lives,\u201d he wrote and embedded a 13-minute video with the tweet that can be viewed on his YouTube channel.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Muslim Misrepresentation in Film | #MuslimsInFilm\" width=\"1260\" height=\"709\" data-trx-lazyload-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ssuhvv0l3bk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The actor, along with Pillars Fund, USC Annenberg &#038; Ford Foundation, unveil the Blueprint for Muslim Inclusion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":25541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,39,214,37],"tags":[433],"class_list":["post-23227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity","category-entertainment","category-featured","category-news","tag-riz-ahmed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}