Screening set for award-winning documentary

The documentary film, “The Death of an Imam,” will be screened at Grand Valley on Friday, March 25, at 1 p.m., in room 174 Lake Superior Hall. The film examines the news reporting associated with the 2009 shooting of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah in a Dearborn warehouse. It explores allegations of a terrorism conspiracy, the use of FBI informants, and the portrayal of Muslims in the mainstream media.

The 17-minute film was co-produced by Brian J. Bowe, a visiting assistant professor in the School of Communications. Bowe is also a doctoral student at Michigan State University, where he worked on the project with co-producers Geri Alumit Zeldes, an assistant professor in MSU’s School of Journalism, and Salah D. Hassan, an associate professor in the Department of English and core faculty in Muslim Studies. Bowe also composed the film’s soundtrack.

A panel of experts will discuss the film. They are Lena Masri, Council on American-Islamic Relations; Roy Cole, professor of geography and planning; and Barbara Roos, associate professor of communications.

Entered in the Broadcast Education Association Faculty Video Competition, the film won Best of Competition (Mixed Video Category). It was also one of 15 works, chosen from a pool of 913 entries from 143 colleges and universities, to receive the Best of Festival King Foundation Award.

“We made this film as a way of raising important issues about the coverage of Muslims in the news media and the ways journalism works and doesn’t work when covering sensitive and controversial issues,” Bowe said.