The Muslim Students’ Association held its 2016 film festival at Stewart Theatre in Talley March 4 with the theme “Be Part of the Story.”

The event featured short films by students, rap, spoken word and a cappella performances, speeches and a stand-up comedy act. About 400 people, students from other schools and families, were in attendance. At the end of the night, the movie with the most votes was awarded $500.

“[MSA Night is] a night of entertainment and affection catered toward Muslims because a lot of stuff we don’t partake in,” said Haniyyah Chapman, a junior studying environmental engineering and member of the MSA. “People may see it as we have a lot of restrictions, but that’s not the case. We just like to partake in the good that life has to offer.”

Karina Gomez, a senior studying English and a member of the MSA Board, explained the goal of the event and welcomed people of all faiths to attend MSA events.

“[The purpose of the event was] Muslims taking back, reclaiming our narrative, especially American Muslims, because I think it particularly hard on the West for people to see Muslim and American together; they think of it very separately,” Gomez said. “I think this showed Muslim talent, Muslim ideas, Muslim thoughts. It showed that we’re also just American, we’re people, we’re human beings, just like a lot of people said in their films or their stories and the comedy act.” 

Some of crowd’s favorite films were “A Walkabout in the Woods” by Mohamad Haidar, a senior studying biochemistry; “Black and Muslim” by Doha Medani, a sophomore studying nutrition science, and Shazha Elnoush, a senior studying psychology; “Signs in Nature,” which was filmed in Thailand, by Tarek Aziz, an assistant professor of engineering; and “Hunger” by Hammad Abbasi, a graduate student studying textile technology management, a heartbreaking story of a father providing for his children in a poverty-stricken country. The audience also heard from the Muslim Youth and Community Center, North Raleigh Masjid and North Carolina Muslim Outreach about reclaiming the narrative.

Wasif Qureshi, the president of the Islamic Center in Greensboro, the fourth-largest mosque in North Carolina, spoke about an initiative he is leading to encourage young Muslims to speak for themselves. Qureshi is starting an organization called NC Outreach with a goal of connecting mosques in North Carolina to their larger communities. 

“When you go to state officials, people are telling us that you guys don’t have a unified voice,” Qureshi said. “I heard that from our Congressman, I heard it from our senator from North Carolina. We’re attempting to build a unified voice insha’Allah.”

After intermission, comedian Azhar Usman took the stage and gave advice to young Muslims reclaiming their narrative.

“Either you’re a passive consumer or you’re an active producer, and it’s about time that all of us recognized the importance of that,” Usman said. “Those who feel the calling to get involved in the media or entertainment and pop culture, please follow that calling. Consult your family, your parents, your advisers, religious advisers, the Ulama’a […] Be in integrity with your own heart, but recognize that work is important, culture-making is important. Muslims were always great culture makers, and nowadays we just have a bunch of people who want to be doctors and lawyers and engineers so they can make more money, which is not even real while we’re floating on a ball in the middle of space.” 

Musical group Nothing but Treble captured the crowd with its a cappella performances of Michael Buble’s “Home” and the Arabic song “Ah Ya Zina.” Chapman gave the closing remarks and announced the winner of the 2016 MSA Film Festival: “5 before 5” by Raleigh’s Very Own.

 “For the most part, it went very well,” said Mohammad Omari, a sophomore studying chemical engineering and one of the organizers. “We kind of went over time for a little bit, but the performances were great. People seem to enjoy it. It’s almost 11:30, and people are still out here having fun, they’re socializing, they’re getting together, and I think that’s the biggest reason why we hold events like this — to get people together, because everybody is so busy doing their own thing, and when you give them an event like this, people come together, see each other.”