Pride & Prayer director Panta Mosleh initially planned to make her documentary about discovering a community of Queer Muslims, like herself, in Canada. She wanted to show how they gain spiritual solace at a mosque that welcomes them for who they are. But here’s the thing with documentaries—reality doesn’t always conform to the director’s original plan. Sometimes, the facts and the interview subjects take the story in an entirely new direction.
“I come from the narrative background where you know the schedule; the story is set; the ending we know; and we work towards that ending,” Mosleh tells Pancouver over Zoom. “Whereas with a documentary, you can’t make up the ending. You might want to have a happy ending, but the story is what it is.”
As a result of the Vancouver filmmaker following the story, Pride & Prayer evolved into a compelling, deeply personal, and occasionally funny tale of Mosleh seeking affirmation as a Queer Muslim from her parents. Her dad is a devout Muslim living in Iran whereas her Iranian-born mother, Pouran, is a secular, nonbeliever living in B.C.
Mosleh speaks fluent English and Persian (Farsi) and has a working proficiency in Japanese. She was born in Singapore and attended elementary school in Iran, before immigrating to Canada with her mom and sister.
“If you look at the signs as I was a kid, I preferred boys’ toys; I wanted my hair short,” Mosleh recalls. “I wanted to wear dad’s clothes when we played dress-up, not mom’s clothes. It was just a whole slew of things that were there, but neither of us knew what it was because they don’t teach that in Iran.”
Mosleh goes with the flow
The Vancouver Queer Film Festival will present the world premiere of Pride & Prayer at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday (September 21) at Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas.
Mosleh acknowledges that most Muslim communities around the world think it’s a sin to be Queer and Muslim. This is reflected in comments by various Queer Muslims near the beginning of her film. Hence, her original goal of finding a community that is accepting.
But once her mother enters the picture, the documentary heads in a completely different direction. Pouran has a great deal of charisma as she speaks bluntly about life with Mosleh’s father. Pouran only learned after marriage about his deeply held religious beliefs, which created tension in the marriage.
Mosleh says that as a filmmaker, she decided to go with the flow rather than stick to her original plan.
“My background in improv really helps me with that,” she states.
As a result, viewers learn the surprising circumstances under which Pouran found out that her daughter was attracted to woman. And Mosleh later turns that into highly amusing material for a stand-up comedy routine in Los Angeles.
Mosleh actually adapted this part of the shoot into a separate film, Culture Shock Comedy Show, in which she repeatedly riffs on being a Queer Muslim.
Watch the trailer (above) for Pride & Prayer.
Letting others know that they’re not alone
“The biggest takeaway I want folks to have from this is that you live one life,” Mosleh says. “Life is too short. Truly, find a way, first of all, to love yourself and accept yourself because that’s the hardest hurdle. And hopefully, people around you will accept you.”
She adds that these people could be members of one’s family or they could be members of a “chosen family”. Through Pride & Prayer and Culture Shock Comedy Show, Mosleh is showing others like her that they are not alone.
“As scared as I was to even say it on camera, I am Queer and I grew up Muslim.”
She graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Victoria and studied acting at the New York Film Academy. Over the years, Mosleh has accumulated many credits as an actor, director, and producer. She co-directed and co-wrote the short film “Hatch”, which was about an Afghan boy and his mother trying to cross a border station by hiding in a water truck. It captured nine awards and eight nominations on the festival circuit.
She also produced the Jay Kamal–directed 2021 short film “Baba”, which earned nine awards and nine nominations. It made the final six in the Crazy8s indie film competition.
Pride & Prayer is Mosleh’s first documentary.
The Vancouver Queer Film Festival will present the world premiere of Pride & Prayer with its community partners, MENA Film Festival and Stand Festival. It will be screened at 3:15 p.m. Sunday (September 21) at Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas (88 West Pender Street), followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Pride & Prayer will also be available online from September 22 to 28. For more information, visit the festival website.
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