About Our Documentary 

Sarah Maple is in her 20's from Sussex, England and has already graced the cover of art magazines such as, Nylon and Swindle. After multiple gallery openings and  winning the 4 New Sensations hosted by the Saatchi Gallery, one would think Sarah is happily on her way to a career as an artist. However, Sarah's has to fight a hard battle for her artwork which, satirically tackles themes of her Muslim identity and sexuality. Her exhibits have been vandalized, she receives death threats and is both loved and hated for her work. Sarah's work may at first seem offensive and lead to judgements about her personally, but when talking to her we found she is a non-drinking, non-smoking, practicing Muslim who is simply, "fighting fire with fire."

Growing up in a home of mixed religions, Sarah struggled with her Muslim identity and role as a woman as it was portrayed through the media. In response, she began expressing her frustrations humorously through art. Soon, her paintings transformed into a full time job and has landed her exhibits in galleries around the world (New York, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Italy and throughout England). Although many people admire her work, there is an equal amount who feel her work is offensive. Maple says, [I want] to give my audience food for thought. I believe comedy is a great tool to achieve this, which is why I choose to portray my conceptual ideas through a light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek approach. Our film will explore identity, empowerment and growing up 'in-between' cultures where one young woman challenges political and ideological issues with no reservations and a sense of humor. 

Visual Style

Our visual style will draw on pop-art and music of the 1960s. The essence of the film can be equated to The Velvet Underground playing a show for Congress, or The Who performing at Westminster Abbey. We will be using the "observational mode," of filming, where the camera is not acknowledged and we will not directly interact with our subjects. This style of cinma-vrit filmmaking is similar to that of D.A. Pennebakers 1967 film Dont Look Back and is a way of letting life unfold without provocation. We believe that cinma-vrit is the most appropriate way to tell Sarahs story because she is an extraordinary person in an ordinary setting and should not be confined to sit-down interviews and statistics. In a way, this film will be an artumentary, combining rockumentary and vrit camerawork to delve into the life of Sarah Maple. Through her work and life we would like to deliver a  message of empowerment, freedom of expression and religion as well as promoting understanding of diversity throughout the world. 

Impact

In light of the Arab Spring and ongoing struggles for freedom, the news media has flooded our homes with unrest and revolution in the Middle East. Oftentimes we can get caught up in possessing a narrowed view of Islam and have pre-judgements or fears grounded only in a lack of understanding. Our goal is to educate a younger audience about freedom of expression and how one woman is challenging radicalization of islam in her own way. Our documentary will tackle issues of politics, society and identity through a medium that transcends cultural and language barriers - art. 

What We Need & What You Get

Since we will be traveling internationally, our budget will include airfare and lodging. We are hoping to raise enough money to film in London January 17-27, 2012. We would like to have the ability to travel with Sarah around the city without restrictions. Because our film is cinma-vrit, we need flexibility to travel wherever she goes and take our equipment along for the ride. 

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