Shaheen Ashraf is interviewed in Karkour's Quebec 60
Feb
Canadian Syrian Explores Quebec Charter's Impact on Muslim Women
Written by Chelby DaigleGeorge Karkour, 23, posted his documentary Quebec 60 on YouTube in January. Within a week it got over 18,000 hits. In the documentary, Karkour interviews several hijab-wearing Muslim women about how they feel about Quebec's proposed Bill 60. The bill would forbid public service workers from wearing religious symbols, like hijabs.
Raised in Damascus, Syria, Karkour immigrated to Montreal with his parents when he was 17. Inspired to make the documentary after meeting Quebecoise activist Andreanne Paquet at an Ariane De Rothschild event in New York, Karkour explained, “Serendipity at its best. I would have never had considered even making this documentary if I haven't met her.”
Andreanne Paquet, with photographer Eric Piché, created a photo exhibit aimed at countering the misinformation and hatred by the Quebec media against the hijab and the women who wear it. This resonated with Karkour, who himself created a short documentary about the Montreal building he lived in called “Welcome to Alexis Nihon”. The building was purported to being taken over by Arab terrorists by some of Quebec's radio personalities. Karkour's film showed that although many Arabs, particularly Syrians, had moved into the building, they were far more interested in plotting their next move in Tarneed (Arab form of chess) or doing the Harlem Shake, to organizing a terrorist attack.
Karkour's family is Christian and while he doesn't identify as being particularly religious himself, he feels obligated as a citizen to support the religious freedom of others. “My Syrian background gave me a kind of distance from the dominant discourse in the media that Islam is a violent religion. I grew up around many nationalities and religions so I was well beyond these stereotypes by the time I was an adolescent,” he explained.
However, he never really knew any women who wore hijab until he met composer Suad Bushnaq who wrote the score for “Welcome to Alexis Nihon”. She is one of several veiled Muslim women interviewed in “Quebec 60”. “It was great working with George on the film,” Bushnaq explains, “He's a very open-minded director, he knows what he's doing and it's difficult to comprehend how someone his age has so much vision and passion for issues of social justice.”
The casualness of Karkour's interview style is quite refreshing and he includes the clumsy realities which other filmmakers might have chosen to leave out ”“ like when Shaheen Ashraf is shouting across a room at her husband to move quickly for his interview.
After seeing both “Welcome to Alexis Nihon” and “Quebec 60”, Karkour seems to be developing a style that aims at getting candid reflections and finding the humour in everyday life.
Karkour hopes his documentary makes some people who support the Charter think twice about their assumptions on veiled Muslim women. “I am not a supreme judge. Maybe this Charter is the way to go, maybe it's not. But I want people who are blindly supporting the Charter to at least reconsider and to listen to the other side of the story. This is how a healthy society works,” he explained.
To learn more about Quebec 60 visit:
https://www.facebook.com/quebec60doc
To view "Quebec 60" on YouTube visit:
To view Karkour's first documentary "Welcome to Alexis Nihon" about Syrians living in Montreal on YouTube visit
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