Wham! Bam! Islam!

Wham! Bam! Islam! is an engaging portrait of Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa—Kuwaiti psychologist, graduate of Columbia Business School, and father of five young boys—whose dream was to create a comic book with roots in Islam and its culture. We follow the progress of his inspired creation: THE 99, a team of young superheroes, each exemplifying one of the 99 attributes of Allah. Al-Mutawa had to be careful to avoid a backlash from conservative quarters of the Muslim world, fearing they might object to the secular use of THE 99 virtues that include universal themes such as tolerance and compassion. With cinema-vérité footage and lively animation, this documentary shows the challenges and risks of using comic superheroes as universal role models and bridges of understanding between the West and the Islamic world. After the screening, Al-Mutawa will screen highlights from the animated series based on THE 99.

Wham! Bam! Islam! will premiere on the PBS series Independent Lens on Thursday, October 13, 2011, at 10:00 PM.

Naif Al-Mutawa: The continuing saga of The99, superheroes inspired by Islam from TED Blog on Vimeo.