A Sinner in Mecca

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brent m Back in time for Pride month via online streaming, this highly personal 2015 documentary about a gay Muslim man who makes his required Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca examines the quandary of an individual seeking to be true to himself on diametrically opposed fronts. Questions of attempts at fulfilling sanctioned elements of devotion clash with personal values that run counter to them, pitting the protagonist against himself as he seeks to reconcile feelings for which there are no easy -- perhaps even no possible -- answers. As someone who risks the death penalty for his lifestyle, as well as legal sanctions for engaging in artistic pursuits that are forbidden in Islam's homeland, director Parvez Sharma takes viewers on a journey that captivates, educates and boggles the mind, all at the same time. There are moments when Sharma's story will leave viewers shaking their heads, as well as occasions when the material seems padded and somewhat self-indulgent. However, if nothing else, this offering will leave audiences with myriad questions about how to sort out personally significant but inherently conflicting circumstances, some of which may be applicable to our own circumstances, whether we're Muslim or not. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A film that attempts to tell an important story - and one so rarely addressed in film and mainstream culture that it should be celebrated for its existence. Where A Sinner In Mecca fails is in its determination to achieve its singular aim. The film is at times touching, and sometimes borders on poigniancy, but struggles with the heavy handed delivery of its core message. In relying too much on Western narratives of Islam as shorthand its depiction of the world filmmaker Pavez Sharma inhabits is shallow and loses much of the nuance and context that a truly incredible film could have achieved. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member A beautiful documentary that opened my eyes. This is the power of film. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member A Sinner In Mecca: Just like his own experiences as a openly gay Muslim, Parvez Sharma's documentary about his pilgrimage to Mecca is equally conflicted. On one hand, it is a rare, demystifying glimpse for non-Muslims inside the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that Islam's most devout are expected to take at least once in their lifetime. Braving entry to Saudi Arabia, a country where homosexuals are executed, Sharma's hidden smartphone reveals that the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, stands just a few hundred feet from an enormous shopping mall, where pilgrims can also worship capitalism and buy coffee at Starbucks. It shows pilgrims sleeping on the ground at Islam's holiest destination, surrounded by filthy, heaping mounds of garbage, and shows that the path for another of the hajj rituals (walking seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah) is now an air conditioned, enclosed corridor - hardly inspirational or spiritual. These surreal travelogue images of the physically grueling hajj and Sharma's criticism of this strict Saudi interpretation of Islam are when the film is most interesting. Where it doesn't work is when Sharma attempts to create drama, such as the hokey opening fantasy sequence of the film, when his bathing water is made to look like blood, or during his self-indulgent description of the strained relationship with his now-deceased, homophobic mother, or his trip to India to kill a goat (another hajj ritual) after the Saudis run out of goats during his visit to Mecca. Banal cliches aside, the film is still an interesting look at the hajj, warts and all, that is worth seeing. B- Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews

A Sinner in Mecca

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