Her Choice - Behind and Beyond the Hijab

Short Synopsis

Her Choice takes a new, in-depth look at the Muslim women's headscarf, or hijab, in North America.

Description/Treatment

What the film is about:

Unlike in some Muslim countries, every single Muslim woman in the West has to decide whether or not they should wear the hijab. Contrary to what many non-Muslims believe, most Muslim women are making their own choices, but either choice comes with advantages and disadvantages. The film reveals their very complex motives and challenges, and illustrates that Muslim community in the West is as diverse as the world itself. Through cinema-verite story telling and intimate conversations, the film audience will see and feel what it is like to be a young Muslim woman in the West, and experience the social, emotional, psychological, political andspiritual impact that the hijab has on the lives of Muslim women.

The reasons why we want to make this film:

In the West, Muslim women regard hijab as a symbol of self esteem, identify, power and independence in addition to their dedication to their faith. Many Muslim husbands and parents oppose the hijab while women say a hijab makes them feel “liberated and empowered,” and some take it off unwillingly. “Liberating” and “empowering.” Surprising to non-Muslims, many Muslim women in North America use these words to explain the feeling when they wore hijab for the first time.

In North America - a continent of immigrants - there is much diversity within the Muslim population, both in terms of ethnic and cultural backgrounds as well as opinions about the hijab.

According to a study of young Muslim women between 18 to 30 years old in Canada, 52% of Arab women and 40% of Pakistani/Indian women wear the hijab, but only 2% of Iranian women and 2% of Turkish women wear the hijab. Of North African immigrants – all from countries weathering strong Islamic revivalist movements– only a fraction wears the hijab. Second-generation Canadian respondents coming from these backgrounds were far more likely to wear the hijab than those born inthese particular countries. South Asian immigrants usually adopt the hijab upon arrival in North America, and not prior.

The film will show this wide range of preferences among Muslim women and their families and investigate what makes people take different positions.

In the same study, more than 70% of the respondents wearing the hijab and more than 60% not wearing the hijab felt that the hijab earns them trust and respect from their families and Muslim communities. The study also shows that more than 1 in 4 Muslim women are encountering some form of direct,applied pressure to change their dress code in both ways.

Accordingto American Civil Liberty Union, civil rights complains filed with one Muslim advocacy group rose from 366 in 2000 to 22,467 in 2006, an increase of 674%. One expert has found that 69% of women wore the hijab reported at least one incident of discrimination compared with 29% of women who did not wear the hijab.

Our Goals:

The purpose of this film is to shake up thoughts made of prejudice, and contribute to a more harmonious, respectful and truly tolerrant society. We have set objectives for three different groups of audience.

1. non-Muslims: To help bring non-Muslim audiences closer to Muslim communities by sharing the experiences of, and background information about, Muslim women and their families.

2. Muslim countries: To show women and men in conservative Muslim countries where women's rights are limited how Muslim women in the West make their own choices with consideration of their faith.

3. Muslim communities: To facilitate discussions within Muslim communities in the West among different ethnic groups, different generations and within families.