MPV’s Community Arts Grant
MPV’s Community Arts Grant supports the development, creation, and promotion of short films, documentaries, and theatre productions that address pressing social issues experienced by the Muslim community. By providing micro-grants and mentorship to these creatives, we foster innovative, thought-provoking content that raises awareness, while simultaneously nourishing a space for marginalized people to feel safe and affirmed in their artistic journey.
It is our hope that each artistic piece created with funding from MPV’s Community Arts Grant will embed universal human experiences - love, struggle, joy, and resilience - in fostering empathy and spark dialogue on the most pressing social issues of our time including LGBTQ rights, gender and racial justice and social equity.
If you’d like to help MPV bring these artists on the margins into the mainstream, you can make a donation to our Advocacy Through the Arts fund here
Witness
In the Fall of 2024, Muslims for Progressive Values awarded its first ever Community Arts Grant to Witness, a short fiction film about spiritual dignity. Witness tells the story of a revered small-town imam faces a crisis of faith when he must choose between upholding the values of his mosque or protecting the safety and spiritual belonging of a male congregant. Since its debut, “Witness” has been accepted at the Tasveer Film Festival, the Slamdance Festival, Muslim House with Sundance, and Florida Film Festival.
Angeleno: Stories of Light, Grit, and Grace
Timed for release ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games, Angeleno is an upcoming coffee table book that captures the soul of LA through 120 cinematic, emotionally charged, and thought-provoking photographs paired with powerful narratives from photographer Niaz Uddin Help make the project a success with a tax deductible donation to MPV, or write to us for more details.
cocoa doll
When recent college grad Nora, a Black Muslim woman, is hired by the wealthy white McNeil family, she soon uncovers they’re hiding a deadly secret... COCOA DOLL is a feature film that uses the horror genre to examine the legacy of the Jim Crow era, while starring a Black Muslim protagonist in a genre where Muslim characters are underrepresented. The script was featured on the Muslim List and the WScripted Cannes Screenplay List, and is now in the process of securing financing to go into production in 2026 inshallah.
Shokolata
Shokolata is an animated feature inspired by the extraordinary true story of the Hadhad family, Syrian chocolatiers forced to flee war-torn Damascus before rebuilding their lives and beloved chocolate company, Peace By Chocolate, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Told through the eyes of young Taghrid Hadhad, the film blends humor, heartbreak, and hope in a painterly cinematic adventure about family, resilience, and the power of peace. Developed with artists from Disney, DreamWorks, and Sony Animation, the film aims to bring an uplifting and deeply human refugee story to global audiences.
Shokolata is written and directed by Sadia Ashraf and produced by Jeffrey New. Production Designers are Kenard Pak and Yoriko Ito, with Art Direction by Daby Zainab Faidhi. The film’s visual style combines hand-painted inspiration with stylized 3D animation, drawing from Syrian art, architecture, and memory to reimagine both Damascus and Nova Scotia on screen.
Associate Producers: Ani Zonneveld and Farah Merani for Muslims for Progressive Values-Silver Thread
guards at the taj
Set centuries ago, yet piercingly relevant today, Guards at the Taj follows two low-ranking imperial guards stationed outside the Taj Mahal before its grand unveiling. An impossible task tests their lifelong friendship, shakes their faith, and shatters their lives forever. This darkly funny and deeply moving play asks us: follow duty or follow beauty?
Community Partner: Muslims for Progressive Values- Silver Thread
Headbang
Headbang tells the story of Amara, 16, a conservative Pakistani hijabi girl secretly obsessed with death metal, and Leila, a Palestinian American college student wanting to escape her life, who cross paths as they wrestle with identity, empowerment, Islamic faith - and wearing the hijab.
At the heart of this story is the complex power of the hijab, and how a seemingly simple piece of cloth embodies both what the wearer imbues it with and what society project onto to it, through the lens of two different young women.
MPV's Ani Zonneveld is credited as Consulting Producer and played the role of the female imam.
Malibu Mutt
In 1970s Malibu, a young refugee’s chance encounter leads to a falafel shack that becomes a local legend—and his first step toward the American Dream. Malibu Mutt tells the true story of Ziad Karram, a young Palestinian refugee who arrived in 1970s Los Angeles chasing an education—and stumbled into creating an iconic food shack that embodied his version of the American Dream. Through a vibrant mix of live-action, animation, and archival footage, the film follows Ziad’s journey from struggling student to co-founder of Malibu Mutt, a food stand that won over both locals and celebrities with its falafel sandwiches. Decades later, the shack still stands, serving as a reminder that grit, community, and a little bit of luck can leave a lasting mark.
Written and Produced by Zane, Kais and Iman Karram
Associate Producer: Ani Zonneveld (MPV-Silver Thread)
Interested in applying for funding?
“Our goal is to empower diverse and inclusive Muslim artists to tell their stories in a way that challenges stereotypes, promotes justice, and inspires positive change.”