A Sinner in Mecca

Parvez Sharma's A Sinner in Mecca - described as a hajj of defiance, screened at this year's Sheffield DocFest earlier this year, to a full house.

theguardian.com

Sharma had a lot to live up to following his previous film 'A Jihad for Love' where he documented the lives of gay, lesbian and transgender Muslims, who choose to remain faithful to Islam, and some in countries where many would choose to flee. Sharma decided it was time to fulfil his Hajj, only he had a secret, Parvez Sharma is a gay man, which carries with it more than the threat of being caught with a camera, but also the threat of death. Sharma confesses, 'I was done coming out as a gay man, I needed to come out as a Muslim' and that is exactly what A Sinner in Mecca set out to do - all-be-it rather indignantly. The 79min film is almost entirely shot on an Iphone, with various rules in place that would make it difficult to film on anything less discreet.

outlandic.com

However, if the aim was to prove himself as a Muslim, to come out devout to his faith, I felt that from start to finish the film was riveted with skepticism and tied together only by a slightly biased reaction to an only partly-authentic journey. Of course I expected him to be on his guard, he was filming and hiding the fact he was a gay man. Sharma has even received personalised death threats following the world premiere of his film in Canada. He does however, hold some form of a grudge against the faith that has caused many to shun him, or at least against the misinterpretation of that faith.

nytimes.com

For example, the Saudi shopping malls, the litter covering the streets of Mecca, the air-conditioned corridor that represents the journey between the desert hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah. Sure, that's enough to cause us all to question the authenticity of the pilgrimage. However, it was the way in which Sharma proceeded to sacrifice a goat despite his ill-feeling, to judge a father for teaching his children to throw an incorrect number of stones at 'the devil', to question what the hajj has become in order to cater for the millions of pilgrims each year. He even captured what should have been, and is for so many Muslims, the holiest moment of the Hajj, by touching the Kaaba and with iPhone in hand it felt like the least sincere moment of the film. It felt like an intrusion of the faith of those around him and as though he had no care for it at all. The film was still more important. It was his own Hajj of defiance against those other Muslims who judge him for being gay, and he was judging them right back. He too was measuring his fellow Pilgrims' 'Muslim-ness' to use a term I've seen in conversation. It was Sharma's skeptism towards this, his constant awareness of it, and his need to tell the camera of it, that actually persisted to convince me that Sharma was not proving his faith in his religion, but more disproving it. How can he comment on the sacredness and sanctity of the Hajj if he spends most of his time moving from socket to socket to charge his own iphone, to ultimately, make a film - which was the predominant reason for going after all. Perhaps that is why filming is prohibited in the first place - as the holy city is a place of spirituality, and capturing it as a mere visual image to show family and friends, or to fulfil a predetermined conclusion (or at least partially determined) is not a true reflection on the holy city, nor on the sacredness of the Hajj. Of course, I will never know or be able to form my own opinion on this, I cannot see it for myself, I am not a Muslim. So instead, Sharma is the best hope we have.

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I'd be lying if I said I didn't agree with him in places. Walking up and down an air-conditioned corridor is a far cry from what it is supposed to represent, and the litter within the holy city does beg to ask how holy a city it is if men will drop their litter on its grounds, but we've seen the aftermath of music festivals and street marches of only a few thousand, Mecca must welcome millions to its streets.




The personal journey was present at times. There were moments where Sharma found his sprituality, or at least recognised the value of being a part of a world-wide Muslim community coming together. It was hugely powerful to witness these moments in him and I felt that I learned much more about 'coming out as a Muslim' when he allowed himself to fulfil his emotional potential within his surroundings.

The film has reached much critical acclaim, and I feel as though I am in no place to revere it as anything less than the powerful documentary they claim it to be. It suffered from poor sound quality at times with a high pitched repetitive recurring sound that seemed to find its way into the mix often but considering it was filmed on an Iphone, I couldn't fault it any further. Although I would question the legitimacy of its narrative voice, I highly disagree with the amount of hate mail that has been directed at him for portraying his own journey, particularly when it comes to his sexuality. This is after all, Sharma's story and not one that should represent the Hajj of any other pilgrim. It's nice to know though, that wherever hate mail exists, there is someone there to fight Sharma's corner... it seems that his coming out as a Muslim has seen him welcomed after all. But at what cost? He spends 80mins telling us he was losing his faith rather than strengthening it and hen concludes that by the end he is a better Muslim - how'd he work that one out? He's no better than those who judge him. He almost makes it worse for himself, framing himself as a kind of martyr, 'Islam is at war with itself and I have fought hard not to be a casualty' he says.

You can catch 'A Sinner in Mecca' on Netflix and it's definitely worth a watch. It really is a conversation starter, and a film that really gets you thinking about self-discovery. It's a rather intrusive 80min portrayal of the Hajj and its pilgrims and an equally judgemental narrative but worth a watch all the same, even if only to disagree with Sharma.

The Men With Many Wives

oneclickwatch.ws

Although the evidence placed before us in 'Men with Many Wives' is that women often want a polygamous marriage too, I still fail to see how they could possibly get anything out of the deal. Similarly, I see nothing more than a desire for more sex from the male perspective (although some say they don't, our marriage broker suggested that up to 80% of polygamous marriages were driven by sex) - which surely should not be a good enough reason to remarry. I'm open to the existence of polygamous marriages but as hard as I try, I cannot work out at all, what the female party gets from that relationship, and why women too are not allowed to find themselves four husbands, as men can find four wives!

With over 20,000 people existing as part of polygamous marriages in the UK at the time of broadcast, I really want to understand from the women what's in it for them. I myself have personal ties with those I know existing within a co-marriage and still cannot fathom reason as to why they would agree... and I think that's why the C4 documentary left me so frustrated. THERE IS NO REASON for so many wives... and I have an unhealthy obsession with reasons and answers to questions and findings.  

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The documentary itself progressed well until part four. Within just ten minutes they tried to cram in a half-hearted argument that said polygamous marriages aren't always positive, that they can break down and can leave some wives feeling as though they aren't wives at all. We meet independent mum Shaheen who is on her second husband and hasn't seen him for months. She is planning a divorce. Why was this part so rushed? It made no story-sense to enlighten us to this right at the end of the film when it could have been an interesting part of the story's development.

chennel4.com

They found some interesting male characters to follow, mainly Hasan with a need for third wife, marrying her without inviting his first two wives, although they were accepting of the marriage. He made it sound like he was doing a good thing by marrying her, in that she was older than the others and unlikely to get another match. He couldn't wait for her to meet the family on a day out at the park. Omar gave no better reason for marrying again than 'this is allowed' and his wife no more than 'I want to revive something that's dying out' (maybe it's dying out for a reason). It was an insight into their reasoning behind polygamy, which was after all, the film's objective but it just left me with the conclusion that it's just unnecessary. I wanted to know why and I wanted to hear more from the women! Instead we met with far too many male contributors telling us about their plans for other wives and were not given sufficient breathing space to explore the wives' opinions and beliefs or indeed if there are any benefits for them:

Tahir doesn't exactly give us confidence in the futures of his spouses: (http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/11497217.Greenwich_restaurant_owner_with_two_wives_shocks_Channel_4_viewers/?ref=mr)

Pointing to his two wives, he said one was good at cooking while the other was better at managing - making them a strong team in the restaurant He added: "They work together nicely".
His first wife Alikah went on to explain why she believes in polygamy, adding: "Normally in marriages, after five years, you get to know the true colours of each other and you start to take each other for granted." 
Mr Tahir is also part of The Obedient Wives Club, an Islamic organisation which, according to its website, teaches wives to "be submissive and keep their spouses happy in the bedroom".

It could have been more for me. The tone of the film allowed it so that I almost succeeded in not disapproving with polygamy at all but it just frustrated me that there doesn't seem to be a reason for it. I would have liked to have explored the failures of polygamy a little more to try to understand but instead it was sneaked in at the end and not given fair air time. The structure wasn't there for me. All in all, a great insight into a fading tradition, that allowed us to see the way that it works in relationships but not nearly enough effort to discover the reasons behind the marriages and the ups and downs of the relationships, particularly for the women. Too many contributors, not enough grit or insight into feelings for me.

I'll give it a 6/10.