June 24, 2011

Today, MPAC’s 20th Annual Media Awards will be presented to artists who provide humanizing portrayals of Islam and Muslims and promote diversity and social justice. MPAC is proud to announce that two of these awards will go to the poignant documentary "Fordson" and to the thought-provoking TV show, "The Good Wife," along with Hiam Abbass and "Miral."

"Fordson"

"Fordson" is a movie that follows four high school football players, who are Muslim, as they prepare for a rivalry game during their senior year that falls during the last 10 days of Ramadan.  During Ramadan, Muslims fast every day from sunrise to sundown, and the film focuses not only on the players’ struggle to prepare for a big game while fasting, but also the adversity faced by predominantly Muslim communities in Post 9-11 America.  Set in Dearborn, MI, at Fordson High School, which was built by Henry Ford in 1922, the school, which was once an all-white school, now has a 98 percent Arab population. The MPAC Media Award goes to "Fordson"for giving an unprecedented glance into the lives of one of the largest Arab communities outside of the Middle East.

"The Good Wife" – "Boom"

"The Good Wife" stars Emmy-award winning actress, Julianna Margulies as the wife of a politician who fell victim to a public sex scandal, requiring her to return to work as an attorney to support her two children. In the episode titled “Boom,” a prominent newspaper publishes a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) being body-scanned at an airport in an effort to criticize racial profiling.  A case for negligence is brought, and the violence escalates when a bomb explodes at the newspaper. The episode focuses on how Muslim employees at the paper are falsely suspected, when the real perpetrator was a non-Muslim reporter. MPAC is proudly giving a Media Award to “The Good Wife” in recognition of its efforts to bring to light Muslim prejudice in America.

"The Good Wife" – "On Tap"

In another episode of "The Good Wife," a black Muslim alderman is indicted on bribery charges by a federal prosecutor. The prosecutors attempt to bring charges against the alderman for accepting a bribe from “Muslim extremist groups” while the alderman’s attorneys raise questions regarding the government’s sudden willingness to associate the alderman with terrorists solely on the basis of his religious identity. Although the alderman is found guilty of accepting bribes in the episode, he is found to not have terrorist links. MPAC’s Media Award will be given to co-executive producers, Ted Humphrey and Leonard Dick, for challenging negative public assumptions regarding Muslims.

MPAC’s Media Awards are designed to acknowledge those in the arts who display Islam in a positive light and who challenge negative public assumptions on topics relating to Muslims. For more information on the Muslim Public Affairs Council Media Awards, visit archive.mpac.org.

-- Nika Najafova
(nika@mpac.org)
Communications Intern