Alternate Expressions of Islam Through Film Videos in Kenya: Muslim Women Filmmakers Countering Social Exclusion in Kenya

Abstract

This article investigates the ways in which Muslim actors in film video in Kenya make interpretations and reinterpretations of Islamic positions on gender roles, veiling, and women’s education. The foundational discourse on gender roles, women’s education, and veiling is contained in primary sources like the Qur’an and hadith. Muslim scholars articulate this discourse in mosque sermons and madrassa teachings. In the side lines of these official spaces are Muslim actors and filmmakers who use popular cultural forms to articulate re-interpretations of Islam and present their experiences in non-establishment environments. This article examines how Muslim women actors in Kenya use film video to challenge the double-marginal position of women in Islam and Muslims in Kenya. By perfomative processes of scriptwriting, acting, directing, and production, Muslim women performers in film video display various responses to contemporary issues. Using film video as a medium, they contribute to continuing discourses on gender roles, women’s education, and veiling. This article argues that the dynamic response by Muslim actors reinterprets norms and traditional positions as articulated by elites and religious authority figures. Methodologically, the empirical material is based on a literature review, one-on-one interviews, and close context analysis. This is juxtaposed with a critical reading of Utata, an amateur film video produced by Muslim filmmakers in Kenya. The film’s narrative describes and critiques Muslim’s conventional practises and positions. Utata highlights the complex challenges facing Muslims, pointing out that responses to questions around gender roles, women’s education, and veiling are, at times, multiple and varied. The stories told by interviewees indicate how Muslim women actors both support and confront male-centred discourses. The article makes use of Western theory, such as Bourdieu on cultural production and also feminist critiques on patriarchy in Islam. It is argued that Muslim women actors engage in a process of reinterpretation of Islamic positions, thereby challenging Muslim women’s double marginalization. Such reinterpretation creates avenues for women actors to contribute to popular Muslim discourses.