About Us
Peaceful Communications has already successfully produced the award-winning film "On a Wing and a Prayer: An American Muslim Learns to Fly," which was aired on PBS across the country in the Summer of 2008. It was seen nationwide by over 2 million people, and it has garnered tremendous positive feedback and won The Cine Golden Eagle for Documentary Excellence. It has also been featured in a number of film festivals, including the Atlanta Film Festival, The Seattle True Independent Film Festival, The Hamburg World Media Festival, and The Berlin Globians Festival. Click here to read praise for "On a Wing and a Prayer." [link to news stories]
Currently, Peaceful Communications is working on its second major production, "Faith Walks the Land." [Link to film information]. Link: Meet the Board of Directors.
FWTL film information:
"Islam is an evil, wicked religion." "What kind of religion is this?...I can see what it says in their book of hate." "I think Muhammad was a terrorist." These are the messages about Islam that are being communicated day after day all across this country. Many Muslims ask themselves, "What can we do about it?" One AmericanMuslim decided to answer that question for herself.
A dedicated wife and mother, Iman Salam decides to leave the comfort of suburban life and go on a journey across this great land of ours and "do something" about the negative images of and attacks about Islam. Yet, she doesn't hop on a plane and gives a lecture at a big city university. No, she travels from small town to small town: starting in her hometown in Washington state, and possibly ending up as far away as Maimi, FL.
What will she encounter on her journey? Will people be hospitable to her, even though she wears a headscarf and has a funny name? Will they even want to hear what she has to say? Will their stereotypes of "Muslims as terrorists" kill the dialogue before it even starts? Do they even harbor those stereotypes?
What about Iman herself? What stereotypes does she take with her as she travels the land? Is she doing the right thing? What does her husband think? Is she even qualified to talk to her fellow Americans about Islam? What if she can't answer a question that is asked to her? Is it even safe for her to travel across small town America?
You will just have to watch and see.
Meet the Production Team:
Monem Salam Producer
Monem, Salam, Saturna Capital's Director of Islamic Investing and Deputy Portfolio Manager, was born in Pakistan in 1972. Raised in Texas, Mr. Salam received his degrees from the University of Texas: BA (Austin) and MBA (Dallas). He worked as Chief Investment Officer for ITG & Associates (Dallas) until 1999, then as a representative with Morgan Stanley (suburban Dallas) until joining Saturna Capital in June 2003. Monem is active with the Muslim community in North America and current Chairman of Peaceful Communications.Monem has spoken at over 500 Islamic Communities about spirituality, seerah, and Islamic investing over the past three years. Monem continues to speak at Islamic Finance/Investment Conferences Worldwide. In 2008, Monem received the "20 Rising Stars" Award from Institutional Investor News. The award is given to 20 leaders in the mutual fund industry, under 40, who the magazine feels will change in the industry in a positive way in the next 10 years. Monem is also the co-author of a new book called "A Muslim's Guide to Investing And Personal Finance".
Hesham A. Hassaballa Producer
Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago-based pulmonologist and writer. His articles have been published in both online and print media across the country and the world, including the Chicago Tribune, Middle East Online, and others. His articles have also been distributed by Agence Global. He is a Beliefnet columnist and has also written for the Religion News Service. He is Deputy Director of Illume Magazine, for which he writes a column as well, and serves on the board of Peaceful Communications.Dr. Hassaballa is author of the essay "Why I Love the Ten Commandments," published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). He is also co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday). His writings can be found on his website, www.godfaithpen.com, which was nominated in 2007 for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is "the most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post."
Max Kaiser Director
Directing film credits for Max are
On a Wing and A Prayer: An American Muslim Learns to Fly, and Desolation. A Comedy., a feature-length comedy finished in May of 2004 which is still seeking distribution. Theater Directing credits for Max are: True West, and Fool for Love (Yale Dramat), The Delivery (Creative Acting Co., NYC). Max is also owner and director of the multi-award winning production company, Hand Crank Films (www.handcrankfilms.com).
